Silk on Sky: Berry Bliss
by Abigail Fond
Summary: -Wanna leave now?" .."Kiss me and you'll know." .."a bad kind" .."Live a little." .."Sora!" .."Really sweet.." .."I'm not gonna tell." .."Naminé..." - Sounds much sweeter than it does. SoraNaminé
1. Straw

Hey everyone! This KAutumnLeavesH talking to you right from TO where I finally got the inspiration to start another story. Man, its been a while. I got home from school and the entire plot popped into my head and I started typing straight from 4 -12am. Please no flames, this is my fave couple from KH (I still love Sora/Kairi, its my second) and my first KH fanfic ever properly written. So anyway, hihi, thank you, whats up, here it is! Oh! And in this story, both Namine and Sora are 15.

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Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is the property of Square Enix and Tetsuyo Nomura. I do not own the characters …but I do own this story. I'll never really understand why fan-creations need this kind of opening clause. Meh, oh well.

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Please enjoy!

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_Being loved deeply by someone gives you strength;_

_Loving someone deeply gives you courage._

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"Naminé, why d'you like strawberries so much?"

I stopped nibbling on the piece of the berry fruit and turned to the boy sitting beside me. His head was facing me, tilted a little to the side – one of his trademark gestures that told me he was curious – before he looked back out to the scene in front of us. I followed his gaze with a gentle smile, not really bothering to answer his question.

We were sitting on a platform ledge that looked out to the entire town a little below us. All around us were flowers of different variety, color and smell ...though strawberries were all we could smell at the moment. The ledge was part of the botanical gardens of the island that the Mayor (sorry, Kairi's _father_) had kept beautifully attractive for all the people to enjoy and see. This was our favourite spot. We come up here together whenever we got the chance.

Thinking back to an hour earlier, I looked down to the strawberry in my hand and smiled at thought of remembering what had happened in my last period.

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xxxOxxx

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'_Naminé, are you okay? You're looking kinda …jumpy.' _

'_Huh?'_

_It was my la__st class. PE. I was loving the feeling of a closer freedom, but at the same time dreading another chance to miss my desired task._

_I was stretching near the corner of the fence of our outside gym field, waiting for my team to be called to get switched into the next match of the game. When I heard my name being called, looked up from my bended position to see Sora walking up to me from the field. From what I could tell, behind him and his mane of unruly, wild brown hair, his other teammates were running off in other directions and another group from the opposite side of the field rushed into the pit to take their place. I figured my team wasn't gonna be in this match, as I couldn't recognize anyone as my teammates from the group that ran in. At least that gave me a few more minutes to stretch and get ready …and to talk to Sora. _

_I pulled up from my bend and began to jog in place._

'_Why d'you say that? I'm perfectly fine!' I said in short breaths. I saw him scratch his head in confusion._

'_Well, cause…uhh…you've been here for twenty minutes now and your team's been called like twice to play already … and why d'you keep looking at the clock?' _

_It was true. I did keep looking at the clock, back and forth, as Sora was speaking to me. I slowed my jog down to a stop and looked up at him, smiling slightly. His face and gym uniform were covered a little in dirt and his neck and forehead were covered in sweat. But he had his regular grin on like always and honestly, to me he was still handsome even in all his dirt and sweat. _

'_Oh, sorry Sora! I just wanted to be closest to the door when the bell rings so I can be the first one out. Hehe…Coach has probably been looking for me by now huh?'_

'_Why__ d'you wanna be the first to leave? Do you have to go somewhere? Where?? Why so early??'_

_I raised an eyebrow at him and gave him a "you-should-know-me-by-now" smile. He wasn't getting any answers until he had answered mine. He chuckled then rubbed the back of his neck._

'_Heh…right sorry. I shouldn't have jumped into your business like that." _

_I giggled._

'_It's __okay.'_

'_Well, you know coach. He can't see well even WITH his glasses. He probably just thought you were the janitor or something.' He laughed and smiled back to the pit. 'Plus, Abbey wants you out there with them this time. They wanted you to come when you were ready but after the second game when they lost…' he trailed off to shoot a thumb in the direction where I looked to see a little ways from the pit near the side bleachers, a group of girls were fighting with a group of boys. I could hear things like "it's on!", "man woman", "challenge", and "kick you in the nuts!" being yelled in the distance. Sora and I laughed._

'_K__ay, I'm coming!!' I practically screamed to the other side of the field hoping they would hear me. A girl on my team looked up from the fight and gave me a thumbs up. _

_I looked back to see Sora with a slightly pained looked in his face as he was picking his ears for deafness. I rolled my eyes, but smiled. He looked back at me returning one of his own. _

'_So, what was that about you wanting to be the first to leave?' _

_I placed my hands on my hips. _

'_You know too much curiosity is bad for you, right?' _

_I watched as he rubbed his nose and blush as a light chuckle escaped his throat. I let out another giggle. I couldn't help but give him what he wanted. He was much too cute for his own good._

_I began twiddling my thumbs together as a small blush grew on my face. _

'_Well, if you must know,' I looked away from him not really wanting him to see the look on his face when I told him._

'_I wanna get to the market district in town before all the fresh strawberries are sold out.'_

'_Strawberries?'_

'_Mmhmm.' _

'…_So …that's why we've all been seeing you, everyday for the past week, be the first one to run out like crazy when the bell rings?' _

_My face was still turned away from him. I half expected him to burst out laughing. Not that it really mattered if he did. We were close and he never laughed at me if it was unintentionally stupid …usually it was the other way around in vice-versa. I laughed at the thought._

'_I know it's kinda silly, but their strawberries are the best in the town, and the freshest. It's just …every time I get there after school, they're all sold out. I can never get there fast enough to beat the crowd. I came close to getting a basket once, but this elderly woman wanted it so I gave it to her instead. Ever since then, I haven't been able to buy a basket.' I sighed but chuckled. 'I'm either too slow or too generous.'_

_Sora let out a soft laugh. _

'_Naminé…'_

_I smiled, waiting for him to come up with a rebutting pun__ to my last comment. _

'_Wanna leave now?' _

_I looked up to his face with my crystal-blue eyes slightly bigger, stunned and confused._

'_Y-you wanna come?' He gave me my own "you-should-know-me-by-now" smile with the raised eyebrow._

'_Of course I want to!' he grinned and hit his chest with his fist._

'_Besides, somebody's gotta protect ya!' he winked then laughed._

_I blinked uncontrollably then laughed, rolling my eyes. I decided to catch him off guard in his own game by throwing my arms around his neck and pulling him into a tight hug._

'_You're best Sora! You know that?' I laughed some more, not being able to control the joy and excitement I was feeling. I felt Sora laugh along with me then wrap his strong arms around my small body._

'_I've been told.' I smiled into his shirt, feeling so good. _

_At that moment, I could've said something like he smelled really good, but that was before someone yelled to me in the distance,_

"_Hey! Naminé! Hurry up! We got another game to play!' _

…_and_ _I realized something as I pushed him away laughing. Sora gave me a confused but still amused smile. _

'_What was that for?'_

'_Sora! You're all sweaty!' I laughed and pointed a stern but playful finger at him as he chuckled. 'You'd better shower before we leave!' _

_Still smiling, he rolled his blue eyes at my gesture then turned towards the wall that the clock was resting on._

'_Yah, I guess I'd better go hurry now!'_

_My laughter died down as I didn't get what he had meant. I blinked my own blue eyes at him._

'_Now? But Sora, class doesn't end for another 25 minutes.' I did not get him sometimes, and I knew almost everything about him. He turned back to me with me a mischievous smirk. _

'_You said it takes you long to get there right?' _

_I nodded, still not getting what he was going at._

'_And you always miss your chance to buy a basket because you're late getting there, right?'_

_I nodded again but stopped at halfway through, making an 'ohhh' with my mouth. His smirk turned into a grin, as he closed his eyes in excitement._

'_So…'_

_I gasped a little realizing what he was trying to tell me. My face flustered and a little sweat dripped down my temple …but it wasn't from the heat. _

'_B-but Sora! School's not over! T-the coach will notice! Plus, I never skipped class before! I'm not like you, you know! I-I have a perfect attendance record and a future to think about!'_

_Sora only sighed and shook his head at my babbling. He turned to me, with his bright ocean blue eyes twinkling, his grin fell into a sweet smile …that was only for me. My blubbering stopped almost instantly. _

'_Come on Naminé,' he tilted his head to the side. 'Live a little.'_

_I was about to protest to his invitation when someone yelled,_

'_Naminé!!!' _

_I jumped slightly. We were hardly interrupted the whole time Sora had come over. I felt a little frustrated but sighed. When I looked over, my teammates were already standing in a line in the pit, some yelling, some cheering, but all waving me over to finally come join._

_I rolled my eyes and laughed__. Without a second thought, I felt a hand push me forward in the small of my back. I looked over my shoulder to see Sora with an amused grin on his face. His eyelids fell a little over his eyes. _

'_Go on. I'll be done by the time you're finished the game.' _

_I blinked at him, still unsure._

'_Just meet me near the entrance to the locker rooms when you're done cleaning up. I don't want you smelling sweaty too!' He winked and I just raised an eyebrow at him, but I giggled nonetheless._

_With one more push he sent me running to the pit, as he quickly turned and headed into the boys' showers without being seen by the other students. _

_I ran with a confident smile to the field. Yah, Sora definitely brought out another side of me …and I loved it. _

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xxxOxxx

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Sora and I had gotten out of school 15 minutes early. I remembered how we had to sneak a little past the windows then sprint our way down the hall to where the lockers were, grab our things, then hurry out the back to start our long walk to town. Though I was never one who much favoured to skipping a class, the thrill of getting caught at any second was exciting. Somehow, Sora had shaken a little rebellion out of my goody-goody side. And that was one of the many things I loved about him.

Thanks to him, I had finally bought the basket of strawberries I had yearned for for weeks. Each and every one of them were big, red and juicy. I couldn't wait to taste them. But Sora made my mouth water when he said we should wait until we got the platform to enjoy them better. Tasting them now was sublime…

"Hm? Naminé?"

Remembering that he had just asked me a question, I lifted my head to find his dazed expression which was still focused on town below.

"Oh, sorry." I quickly looked back down with a giggle in my throat. I was always known for spacing out on people. But Sora only looked at me with an amusing smile. He said I always amused him. Sometimes I don't know whether to take it as a compliment or an insult.

"Hmm.." going back to his previous question, I curled a finger around my chin and looked up pretending to think of a reason.

"I don't know ..I guess because they're just so…'

'…._cute_."

Sora coughed up a little from swallowing his strawberry at the moment I had said it. I let out a small laugh at his reaction. As he was pounding his chest a little with his fist, I didn't realise how weird that must've sounded. I looked ahead trying to keep a straight face as he was catching his breath a little.

The breeze rushed gently past us, blowing my blonde hair around my face. I smiled. I could smell his breath being carried in the calm wind ...strawberries…god, it smelled good on him. A little sigh escaped my small mouth. A little part of me wanted him to catch my scent in the air and see what his reaction was. My eyes widened slightly at the thought.

Thinking about Sora that way was just plain wrong, just plain gross, and just plain…insensitive of me. He could have any girl. I shouldn't use him for my own fantasies. I looked down quickly tried to hide the blush that represented both my slight anger and embarrassment. I hoped he'd just take it as embarrassment. I laughed softly and smiled.

But thankful for his playful personality, he only smiled warmly at me.

"How can you tell if something tastes cute?" He gave a little chuckle.

Being cheeky and enjoying the moment, I grew confident. I turned to him quickly and said in a teasing voice,

"Kiss me and you'll know."

Turning away from him, I let out a light giggle, knowing full well that he probably had a flushed face and gaping mouth. It was also to hide the fact that a sparkle lit up in my eyes and small blush had crept onto my cheeks again and I didn't want him thinking it meant anything – no matter how much I was wanting that very same demand.

There was silence for the longest time…at least for me it was long. But I relished in every moment of it just enjoying Sora's presence.

Until I felt a hand cup the right side of my face. Before I even comprehend was what happening, a pair of soft, warm lips pressed themselves gently to my left cheek. My eyes widened with shock for the quickest second before my eyelids drifted down halfway in an almost-dreamy way. A blush that could match the red of the strawberry in my hand slowly grew on my face as Sora chuckled again.

"Hmm…I don't know…" Sora looked around pretending to be in deep thought with a finger to his chin and an arm under the other.

"That didn't really taste cute to me." He had an amused grin on his face and a slight flush in his cheeks ...but not nearly as deep as mine.

I pouted, trying to look disappointed and hurt. He looked up to the sky.

"That was more…" he looked back down to me into my curious crystal blue eyes unblinking and waiting. His face broke into the handsome smile.

"That was more _adorable_ than cute."

I grinned slightly …though I couldn't tell if it was from his smile or the kiss he had just given me.

"You forgot sweet."

Losing all my nervousness in the moment and feeling my bolder self step up to his game, I put my half-eaten strawberry to my lips and used it as a form of lipgloss. Seeing him not get the idea, I quickly rose up on my knees to his face and placed a wet peck on his cheek.

Pulling back in a fit of giggles I saw him playfully retch and gag at my gesture.

"Ew, Naminé!" Sora laughed and began to wipe the traces of strawberry juice from his face.

A wide grin split on my face. Oh yes, I was loving this moment with him alone. He made me positively beam with his boyish charm.

"So Sora, "I started with a giggle noticing him wipe his hand on his shorts.

"Now that you know what _my_ favourite fruit is, I wanna know what _your_ favourite fruit is." I ended the sentence with a poke to his shoulder.

I realized that in all the time we had been friends, I had yet to ask him some of the world's simplest questions. He let out another chuckle.

"When did we end up talking about fruits? We usually start talking about school, or homework, or friends …or what kind of crazy hairstyle Selphie or Wakka's gonna try out next."

A big smile erupted on his face as my eyes grew big with delight. I closed them, laughing lightly before I regained myself and punched him softly in the arm.

"What d'you mean _we_? It's _you_ and _Tidus_ that always wise-crack about Wakka and Selphie behind their backs!" I gave him a playful grin. "You should hear all the things Wakka says he's gonna do when he finds out who's been spreading that rumor around …you know, the one about how he keeps a stick in his hair and uses tons and tons of hair gel to keep it up like that?"

Sora jumped a little in his spot and turned quickly to her amused face.

"He found out?!"

I nodded, my eyes closed in excitement and the grin still on my face. Sora laughed lightly.

"Well, its okay I guess. Everyone knows he doesn't do that for real. He's just playing along with the jokes. Now Selphie…" he fell back onto the grass, placing his hands behind his head to look up at the sky. "_she's_ the one I'm more afraid of."

Looking down at him and laughing again, I pressed I finger to my lips.

"I'm not gonna tell." Another giggle stifled out of my mouth.

He looked back up to me, suddenly with a mischievous grin in his handsome face.

"Good," he said as I watched him begin to get up from the ground to sit back in his previous position.

"Cause you know what I'm gonna have to do to you when I find out you told her."

Sora was now looming over me with a glare I knew he was laughing behind.

"You'd actually try to hurt me?"

Sora rarely intimidated me, even with his height three or four inches taller than mine. But I played along with it anyways, putting a saddened pout on my cute little face.

Hey, can't a girl admit she's cute when she knows it?

My breath cut a little short as Sora leaned a little into me and gently grasped my chin in his strong hand. His ocean blue eyes digging into my own. I froze in his lock and waited. He whispered straight to my face.

"Yah, I'm willingly to see what damage I can do your pretty little face after you've messed with me..."

"Sora!" I laughed pushing him to the ground watching for a bit as he rolled around in warm laughter. I quickly turned my face away to the right side of the platform, not wanting him to see my red cheeks.

As funny as it was, his voice and our proximity made it ten times harder for me to breathe. Sora was just …so _fine_ that sometimes I guessed he'd never know how much it did to me, as his innocent, naive and playful misconception got in the way of him actually seeing what was going on.

But hey! At least he knew I was cute and admitted it.

Laughing with him as he got back up, I went back to asking my question from before.

"Hey! You never answered my question!" I laughed a little more as he got up more from his crouched position, stifling fits of laughter out of his mouth. He wiped his forehead a little then turned back to smiling at me.

"Oh yah, well I guess my favourite is the …the orange… heh." He rubbed his nose for the second time today, his smile never faulting.

I blinked slowly, my eyes twinkling. I couldn't suppress the giggle. He raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Does there have to me a reason?" I only smiled.

"Well, why don't you like the other fruits?" It was my turn to tilt my head towards him.

Sora took the opportunity to look up to sky and ponder. He may not be the deepest guy, like Riku, but he had his moments. I patiently waited, reaching into the basket for another sweet strawberry, I had almost forgotten in between all our talking and laughing.

"Hmm …well I guess because oranges are …" he turned to me as I was nibbling on the new strawberry with a small smile on my face. Then turning back to the sky he smiled and began.

"They're …bright. I mean, both in colour and in intelligence." I giggled because I had to stop him there.

"Oranges are smart?"

"Let me finish." He turned to me with a smug smile before continuing.

"Yah, in a way they are… They know how to make you smile, well for me at least…" he chuckled.

"…and they help you get better when you're down or sick. Vitamins, remember?" he looked at me and rolled my eyes, 'no duh' clearly written on my face. He then crawled closer to me.

"…that and they're really, really…"

Sora placed another kiss on my cheek.

"…_really_ sweet." He pulled back grinning. "That's why I like oranges the best."

I laughed and mimicked his gross act, pretending to stick out my tongue in disgust. I saw his little pout and grinned.

"As corny as that sounded, I'm touched…" I blinked, pulling my grin into a gentle smile.

"…really I am. Thanks Sora…"

Sora only fell back onto the grass again with his hands behind his head and his leg crossed over the other, closing his eyes in a lazily manner.

"You're my friend Naminé, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't acknowledge you every once in a while?"

I laughed and followed his actions.

"A bad kind?" I laughed.

He chuckled then nudged me slightly in the shoulder, before I playfully punched him in the arm. Thinking I won, I sat up with a grin looking ahead to the sun-setting sky …until Sora knocked me roughly to the ground with a push to my side.

I know he didn't really mean it and I would've just let it go, but after I saw his face over mine, laughing…

"Oh know cute boy, you're not winning this."

Let's just say about a couple minutes later, after much worrying and apologizing, Sora had a large purple bruise to his arm that I had accidentally punched too hard for any boy's liking.

"Naminé!" Sora had one eye closed in pain, the other slightly open.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I hurriedly leaned over him in both concern and amazement. I'm not known at school for any physical strengths, so this came as a shocker to me as well.

"Kiss it better?"

I rolled my eyes but giggled, placing a soft and gentle peck to his bruise.

"Any better?"

"Uh huh!" I laughed. Oh yah, innocence and boyish charms …still like when we were younger…

"There! Now you're all better! Let's just get back to eating the strawberries!" I said reaching in to pull out another.

As I nibbled a bit off the berry, Sora got quiet.

"So …you're definition of strawberries being …_cute_ …would that by any chance have related to someone?"

I looked over to see Sora with a smirk on his face. I blinked not really following.

"Huh?"

Sora turned to look at the strawberry basket with a slight blush on cheeks I could notice.

"Never mind." I watched him reach in for one, look for a bit, smile then take a bite.

When I was sure he wasn't looking, I rolled my eyes and smiled.

Yup……that's why I liked strawberries so much.

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_The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, heard or even touched_

_- they must __be felt with the heart._

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Well there you have it! I'm pretty proud but I know it needs a little bit of touching up. I was thinking of adding another chapter that included Kairi in it, just let me know if you like the idea. It'll give me something to do in my spare time. I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you so much and don't forget to drop a review!


	2. Blue

A thousand apologies for being so late with this chapter! Had the biggest writers block ever and school (as always) gets in the way of everything else you want to do. I'm so glad and thankful that there are people out there who enjoyed my first chapter :) ...and I hope they still stuck around to seeif i had more. I was honestly going to give up and make it a one-shot, but one avid and sweet reader kept me going :) Thanks for giving me a kick start _NaminexSoraLover! _This one's for you! And dedicated to all my readers for the first chapter! So now, get comfy, cause this my longest work ever and Enjoy this next AU :)

Disclaimer: All rights disclaimed./

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_(You all know the quotes don't have to add it.)_

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"Uggh…"

"Uggh…"

I groaned some more and tapped my foot harder, hoping the loud padding of my soles would be heard through the open windows.

"Naminé!! Ughh… are all girls this slow or is it just you?!"

I heard her voice yell from inside the house though it was slightly muffled,

"Unless you want a shoe thrown at you through the window, I suggest you wait more patiently!"

I chuckled. I guess it be little while longer.

Great.

I let out a long breath then stepping to the side, I leaned against the pole of a tall, white streetlight beside me and looked up to the morning sky. Wispy clouds and puffy white ones drifted above me. Just looking at it made me feel sleepy. I began fiddling with my house keys in my pocket, then deciding to put the brief amount of time I had to good use before Naminé came, I tried pondering over all the things swimming through his mind.

After a while, I couldn't think of anything and it wasn't that long before I felt my face scrunching in deep concentration.

Guess waking this early in the morning doesn't really do any do much to wake up the brain.

Well, _my_ brain at least.

I'm usually wide awake just before noon …when lunch is on everyone's mind.

With my head still up I closed my eyes and my mind still groggy, I started to daydream about today's menu.

I hoped to get there first.

Before I could react, I was knocked sideways and a light ringing rang through my ears.

What the hell was that?

I rubbed the side of my face where something I felt hit me. It left a throb to my high cheekbone.

Looking around (I was still in a slight daze, mind you), I bent down and pulled the only visible object from the ground I knew wasn't there from before.

It was a shoe.

A small, narrow, bleach-white, size 7 tennis shoe with clean light-blue shoelaces.

Girl's size.

The ringing continued.

But, where was that ringing sound still coming from?

I turned my head quickly to the open window of the house in front of me.

Oh…

…that was where the ringing was coming from.

Naminé was leaning with her elbows on the windowsill, giggling loudly from between her hands. Her giggles sounding like bells to me at first, I could've sworn.

But I was sure as heck if I were to tell her that.

I noticed her eyes twinkle despite my distance from her. She also had her school uniform blouse on, while the tie was laced between her fingers.

I made a face that I hoped looked like I was irritated, even though I wasn't.

"Hey! What d'you do that for??"

Naminé laughed but she raised her voice playfully to answer me.

"Why are you so impatient!?"

I blinked, baffled.

"Huh? But I wasn't even d--"

"You didn't look very relaxed for a minute before I hit you with my shoe! What were you thinking about? How late we'd be?"

"Wha? No! Uhm ..I..Ho--"

She laughed again.

"Yeah, whatever Sora! Heh, I'll be right down!"

When she moved away from the window and I saw the curtains beginning to pull close, I heaved out a long sigh. Wiping my forehead, I smiled and moved forward.

"Finally…"

I pushed open the gate to her yard and headed up to her front door.

I always love coming up to Naminé's house early in the morning. She lives in a simple white, Mediterranean home with her parents. It's moderately clean and it always smells great. Especially their gardens. They like to keep their gardens fresh and flourished with colours. I always assumed this was where her passion for art began. Living on this island probably added to her love also…

..and maybe even after she met m-…

I stopped and shook my head, smiling.

That's probably going a bit too far and untrue.

Reaching the steps leading up to the porch, I hoped two at a time and was met with the white screen door. I pulled it back and went for the doorknob on the next door that I opened with ease. I smirked. When Naminé knows I'm coming in the morning, it's the first thing on her morning to-do list to unlock the door for me.

And there's no worries. Everyone here on our island is pretty close like family and we've never had reports of theft or break-in.

Pushing the second door all the way, I left it open as the screen door mechanically pulled itself back to close. I didn't bother to take off my shoes but I placed my backpack on the floor near an oak side table close to the door. Noticing the vase on top, I noted it had one blue carnation sitting inside with fresh water filled to the middle.

Yeah, I know my flowers. Blame my mom.

The thought made me laugh.

Hearing some shuffling, I looked up to the stairs that lead to the bedrooms. Naminé emerged from the hallway with a frustrated look. I could hear her breathing heavily. When she turned to stare at me, a big smile broke on her face.

"Sorry!"

I smirked again.

"I'm trying to get ready as quick as I can! I hope you're not mad!"

I gave her the 'you-should-know-me-by-now' look with a raised eyebrow. She rolled her eyes and giggled.

"Right. Just let me get something from the kitchen to munch on, then we can go!"

I watched in amusement as she came down the stairs in the most awkward way. She was still fidgeting with the tie around her neck, trying to get it on properly and the schoolbag slung on her left elbow kept falling down her arm, causing her to pull it back up quickly. To top it off, she only had on one shoe so her balance was off, coming down each step. Her right foot only had a knee-high navy blue sock. Her other trainer was in my hand.

I couldn't resist the urge to laugh lightly. When she came reached the bottom step, I quickly when up to her and took her schoolbag in my hand.

"No need."

Before she could respond, I turned around walking to the table where my backpack was, throwing her shoe over my back without looking.

"I made an extra breakfast sandwich for you."

I looked over just in time to see her catch the shoe in both hands. I smiled. She looked up at me with wide smile and half-lidded eyes.

"Where do I get off being so lucky?"

I felt admired. A warm fuzz had come over me for a moment. Bending down to pick up my bag, I slung it over my shoulder and turned back to grin at her.

"Just keep smiling at me and you will be."

Once she put her shoe on she walked up to me and took her bag from my hand. She grinned back up to me with her eyes closed.

"Everyday."

Still smiling, I looked at Naminé fully since she had come down the stairs, taking in the specific details of her appearance.

Today, I noticed her golden hair shone in the morning sunlight through the window (it always did) and had been straightened. Part of it laid in front on her right shoulder, like it always did. Her face was washed clean and though I knew she didn't like to wear makeup like other girls, the natural gleam left her beautiful as always. She was close enough for me to inhale her perfume…

…_lavender_. I began to wonder her hair smelled like.

Other than that, everything was the same. When I was done, I felt my face flush a little, but I kept on a smile so she wouldn't notice, then I went to open the screen door.

"Come on, let's get outta here."

She followed me in suit, quickly locking the doorknob of the second door and pulling it with her to close. But I stopped her before it closed all the way.

"Did you remember your keys this time?"

Naminé blinked up at me for a quick second before she went to pull the door all the way. When the click of the lock was heard, she looked back at me with a smile.

"Don't worry. I've always got it with me."

I looked as she lifted a little bit of a side of her uniform blouse. She showed me the small silver chain hidden that went from the back side of her hip to the front. Her keys lay comfortably against her blue-plaid kilt. I smirked as she giggled.

"I learned that from you."

-'.().'-

Man.

The walk to the school was long, far, and got increasingly warmer with the Sun rising high fast into the sky. I counted how many times I had wiped my forehead during our walk to school – _five_ – and though we were walking a pretty moderate pace, it was hard to tread.

And that's saying something, considering I'm pretty strong when it comes to endurance.

But it was spent in smiles and laughter. With Naminé, I was never really bored and always amused.

Looking over to her, I saw her throw her head back in laughter to a joke I just made. I couldn't stop myself from grinning like a fool.

She brings out the idiot in me sometimes.

And she's not even afraid to admit it to my face when I am.

When she relaxed, I heard her take a bite out of the sandwich. I looked ahead at the trail we were walking. The path winded through some hills going up and down and the houses on top of them dotted the landscape. I could see light smoke rising lazily from their chimneys.

It was peaceful.

A couple munches and a small gulp, I finally heard her wiping her hands upon finishing the last bit of her breakfast. Her voice followed with a small 'Mmm'.

"You're getting better at making these, Sora! Thanks so much! Maybe I'll keep you waiting on purpose from now on."

"Hey!"

We both laughed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her adjust the strap of her schoolbag on her right shoulder with her hand and then she began to conjure up a light conversation.

"I wonder how the Blitzball game with Tidus went? He told me yesterday wasn't really up to Runo's challenge but everyone was supposed to be there, even Wakka."

I heard her chuckle then she continued.

"Wish we stayed behind to see it. Could you imagine how mad he must've been not to see you involved? He says you're one the best players, you know? I think you were supposed to be part of it. Did you know that? I heard it from Selphie yesterday around lunch. She said he was rallying together all the best guys and that they were supposed…"

I nodded my head and mumbled in agreement whenever it sounded like she wanted an opinion, after that. I wasn't really following, so I started spacing out, my mind still filled with a morning daze. Eventually I realized Naminé had been calling my name.

"Sora?"

Breaking out of it, I blinked and looked down to her. I'm still taller than her. Actually, a lot of guys are…

…and I gloat about it to her a lot.

"Huh?"

"What do you think, then?"

She was looking back at me with a curious face.

"Wh…I mean, uhm…Yeah?"

Oh yeah, that proved I was listening.

Looking ahead quickly, I avoided her gaze, waiting for the lecture I was sure to get from her about ignoring people.

But it never came. And instead, I heard her giggle.

I felt my head whip back to Naminé's face, where I saw sympathy and happiness all play out in her smiling face. She sighed and turned her head to road in front of us.

"What?"

I had to question her actions.

Girls were so secretive all the time.

Then I noticed her eyelids fall over her eyes with a small smile.

"I was just thinking back to when we were younger, that's all."

Following her train of thought, I blinked quickly and laughed.

"Oh yeah…"

-'.().'-

'_Okay remember children, just draw whatever you want! It could be a person, an animal, a thing, a place ..anything! Use whatever you can find today on the arts 'n' crafts table and just take your time!'_

_The teacher's words, still rung through Sora's ears. But they did nothing to help the flush growing on his face and the jumbledness in his brain. _

_He had been the first to rush over to the table covered in art supplies, once those finished passing over the teacher's lips, Then playing it safe, he grabbed a small box of crayons and a sheet of white paper. With a big smile, he ran over to the nearest available table, sat in a blue plastic chair. Once he had put the crayons and paper down on the wooden tabletop, he looked up to the ceiling._

'_What should I…? Uhmm...'_

_After a moment, he went to look and stare at the other four-year-olds in the classroom, who were busy scrambling to grab crayons, pencils, paintbrushes, scissors, glue and other art supplies off the arts 'n' crafts table. He watched until one by one, they had all gotten something to use then ran running to the other tables, quickly beginning on ideas they had quick in their minds._

_Feeling a little panicked, Sora groaned then looked down to his paper._

_It was still blank with white._

'_Uhhggh...'_

_He bit his bottom lip and fisted his left hand (his common sign to show he was nervous) as the teacher walked over to where he was sitting after, surveying over the other children. _

_She looked over his small shoulder then kneeled down to his height and placed a hand gently on top of his head. His spiky brown hair poked through her fingers. She smiled sweetly to him._

'_Sora honey? Have you thought about what you would like to draw yet?'_

'_I…uh…well..th-…uhm...'_

_Sora looked up at her with a frustrated look and shook his head slowly._

'_Would you like any help?'_

_He thought about it. As much as he would have liked to take the nice teacher's offer, Sora knew he wanted to do the task on his own and make her proud. He shook his head again, but this time with a hopeful grin._

'_No thank you, Miss teacher. Don't worry, I'll think something great. I just need to think real hard!'_

_She laughed lightly at his response. She knew he would grow up to be a bright and happy boy. _

'_Alright then. I can't wait to see it!'_

_Sora nodded eagerly as she stood up and walked away to another part of the classroom. Once she was gone, the frustrated look played itself out on his face again._

_What was he going to draw? _

_Looking around again, he saw all his other classmates working hard as their creations and drawings started coming out. He heard his kindergarten teacher praise them highly and watched as huge smiles burst on their faces._

_He scratched his head and groaned louder than before, then he dropped his head to stare at his own paper._

_Still blank. _

_Sora concentrated hard for the next couple minutes, ignoring the scratches and scribbles he heard from the other children around his table and around the room. After a bit, he dunked out all the crayons from the box and watched as they rolled little ways around his spot at the table. He sighed._

_Giving up and thinking there was little time left to create something, he decided to draw a simple picture of the last time he was at the beach chasing a seagull. It wasn't what he had hoped to draw, but it was better than having a blank sheet looking back at him for the rest of the day._

_Without even lifting his gaze from the paper, he reached his hand over to where he knew the blue crayon was._

_Instead of touching the wax crayon however, he touched another hand._

_Looking up quickly to where his hand had been, he noticed the other small hand quickly go for a green crayon. What followed was a quick, high-voiced,_

'_Sorry!'_

_Following the hand up to its arm and then to its shoulder, Sora met with the head of another kindergarten kid in his class. She looked at him with big, hopeful blue eyes, and a small smile on her face. Her blonde hair was tied in a ponytail on the right side of her head and she had on a light blue sundress. He blinked, just staring at her, almost forgetting she had said something._

_She spoke again in a happy voice._

'_You can use it first. Can I borrow it after you, please?'_

_Sora kept on staring. Normally, he would've just smiled, said 'Okay!' and went on with whatever he was doing, remembering to tell his Mom later that he talked to a girl thinking that she probably had cooties. But something made him speechless and he was left feeling flushed all over again in front of the new pretty girl who was still waiting for him to answer._

'_Hello? Are you okay?'_

_She moved a bit closer to him and waved a hand in his face. Sora blinked quickly and shook his head when he had come to his senses._

_The girl giggled and tried again._

'_Are you okay?'_

_Face still flushed, Sora nodded slowly._

'_Ah…ye- …uhh…'_

_Thinking his response was good enough, the little girl continued._

'_So, is it okay for me to borrow the blue one? I'm making a picture of when I went to my auntie's house and I wanted to color her dress in blue. Did I bother you? What are you making?'_

_Not waiting for an answer this time, she went to look at his paper. Feeling embarrassed, Sora tried to cover his blank sheet with his small hands. She had already gotten a good look. She looked back at him and smiled some more._

'_What are you drawing?'_

_Sora gulped._

'_I …wa-…uhm…uhh…'_

_He was beginning to feel overwhelmed again. And just when he was about to get up, collect his crayons and walk over to a corner in the classroom to clear his head and get away from watching eyes (yes, he was shy when it came to his artwork.), she giggled lightly._

'_Is that all you can say? You don't think I have cooties, do you?' She giggled again._

_He snapped awake of his crazy thoughts and looked at her clearly for the first time since she'd spoken to him. He bravely spoke._

'_N…no I don't. You're too nice to have cooties.'_

_She laughed and smiled at him. _

'_Good. Because I like you!'_

_She was infectious. Sora couldn't help but smile back at her._

'_I'm Sora!' _

_She giggled and looked at him through bright, crystal blue eyes._

'_And I'm Naminé!'_

_Without even stopping himself, Sora grinned and eagerly asked her,_

'_Naminé, do you wanna be my best friend?'_

_Her eyes grew wide for a minute. Sora felt nervous._

_Had he been too forward? Would she hate him? Did he just scare away his first-ever best friend? _

_Before anything else afterwards, Naminé threw her arms around his neck in a tight hug and yelled loud enough for the rest of the classroom to hear,_

'_Yay! I've got a new best friend!'_

_Then she quickly released him and went back to her drawing, trying to pretend she was ignoring the embarrassing stares she felt herself getting. _

_Sora looked across the room; the others kids were staring before quickly going back to their work, talking amongst themselves. He also noticed the teacher look at him with a bright smile and a nod of her head. He scratched his cheek, smiling weakly before he dropped his head to stare at his paper again and at all the crayons around him. _

_He blinked. Were there suddenly more crayons on the table than he had before? _

_Looking to the side, he saw Naminé dumping all her crayons into his pile and merging theirs together. She looked at him with smile on her face._

'_You wanna share?'_

_Grinning, he nodded._

'_Okay!'_

_She let herself smile at him some more before going back to her coloring. Sora watched her do her magic. He couldn't believe it, her drawing was amazing! He blinked when he noted all the details she managed to draw out in her picture. It was great compared to his colourful blobs and stick people. _

_Sensing he was watching, Naminé looked up at him._

'_What is it?'_

_Sora stared at her face. Her big smile was still there and there was a twinkle in her eyes. He suddenly felt inspired. Reaching down for the blue crayon he looked back up at her with a wider grin than he ever made before the morning started._

'_I know what I want to draw.'_

_She blinked at him, waiting patiently._

_Tilting his head to the side a little, he closed his eyes._

'_I wanna draw you!'_

_Naminé blinked again but followed it with a big smile. _

'_Thank you, Sora!'_

_Sora quickly dove into the paper, drawing out Naminé's face. He was still grinning._

_He somehow knew she didn't just mean to thank him for choosing her as his drawing vision. _

_Eventually after that day, the other kids in the kindergarten class got to Sora better, all wanting to be his friend after Naminé's outburst. And Sora became especially popular but Naminé was always the closest at his side. They were tight ever since._

-'.().'-

I heard Naminé laugh along with me. She turned to smile.

"You were so unsure about yourself back then. I was scared you'd end up having a speech disability …the way you kept responding to me."

I gave her a smirk then laughing lightly I scratched the back of my head.

"I don't really know, okay? I just …found it sorta hard to talk to you."

She giggled. The sound brought a slight blush to my cheeks.

Like bells again.

"Why? You weren't scared of me or anything, were you?"

I quickly turned to face her with my mouth slightly open. Her face fell in curiosity.

"O-of course not!"

When I waited for her to respond, she didn't. She blinked up to me with her bright blue eyes and a small smile found its way on her mouth. I could tell she waited to see if I had anything else to add.

I did.

But I stopped myself from saying something,

…something I wasn't ready to say to her.

It suddenly shocked and took me by surprise.

But what exactly was _it_? And what was the _something_?

I turned my head away from her face, fighting the heavy blush that was rising on my face.

Why was I suddenly so nervous?

Maybe if I tried to turn the subject around on her, I could recuperate from my sudden light-headedness and then things could go back to normal.

The thought made me chuckle nervously.

"I-I don't know…" I turned to grin at her weakly.

I felt my face heat up a little.

"I guess cause you were so cute back then, I didn't really know how to talk to you."

I wasn't sure if Naminé could see how pink my face was (as to how jittery I felt at the same). The sandy path we were treading to school was angled to the Sun and my head was to the back of it, casting a shadow over my front features. Naminé was in clear view of the sunshine as turned to look at me. I was lucky to see how her face flushed slightly after my response.

It somehow enlightened me.

My grin widened as I watched her turn her face away quickly from me with a small laugh. The sunshine danced on her blonde hair and I appreciated how it made her head glow in a soft way.

For a while, we were silent. Not that I found awkward. And neither did Naminé, because after a while, she began humming to herself. Picking up the tune, I whistled along with her…

..until I realized we were both moving along to the song of our school's anthem.

I stopped abruptly. Naminé turned to look at me quickly in curiosity. I slouched my shoulders forward and groaned slightly. A big, loud yawn escaped my lips before I could stop myself.

She started laughing at me, as if reading my thoughts.

"Aw come on, school can't be that bad!"

I turned to look at her with my face void of any emotion.

"You gotta be kidding, right?"

She laughed some more. Then walking closer towards me, she patted my head. We were walking nearly shoulder to shoulder after.

"Don't worry you lazy bum, we're almost there! But we've got eight hours left before you can leave, then you can be happy!"

I groaned even louder and she followed it with a chuckle.

-'.().'-

I opened my locker then threw my bag in, pulling out my uniform shoes then replaced them with the trainers on my feet. Man, I hated these shoes. They had no grip, they were an ugly color, and I couldn't tell if wherever the weird smell was coming from was off of them or from the locker beside mine.

I chuckled.

When I was done fumbling around with my books and papers, I closed the locker and set the lock to two numbers.

Hey, I like to open it fast and it's so much easier with the one-turn method.

I looked over my shoulder and smiled. A little ways down the hall on the opposite wall, I could see Naminé bent over, her head inside her open locker. Without even looking back, she threw a couple containers, some paper, and a few leftover coloured pencils into her bag beside her feet. She was standing in her socks.

I walked over to her, greeting and waving to friends I passed on the way, then I leaned on the locker next to her with my arms crossed. With a mischievous smile, I waited.

I don't think she knows I'm standing here yet.

"Sora, can you pick up the pencil for me? I think I heard it roll away when I threw it."

Damn.

Looking to the ground, I saw a purple pencil crayon rolling back and forth on the glossy white floor tiles. I bent down, picked it up and tossed it into her bag. I looked back at her with furrowed eyebrows.

"How d'you keep doing that?"

She shifted in her locker from a bent position to a straight one as she stretched on her toes to reach for something on the built-in high shelf.

"What? Knowing you there?" She giggled. "You easy to predict, you know."

I made a face, though she didn't see it. Then I smirked, moving over close to her side.

"What? No, I'm not! I'm actually the opposite!"

I stretched my own body behind hers, placing my left hand on the other locker to keep balance.

"You're about to grab what I can't reach, are you?"

I instantly stopped my hand from reaching the shelf and pulled it back.

She turned her head under me and gave me a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

I stepped away from her and went back to leaning on the locker, looking away from her. I pouted and she giggled at my actions.

"Did you even _know_ what I was trying to get?"

Before I could stop myself, I said confidently,

"Your flute case."

I mentally slapped myself. It was a hook-line-and-sinker.

Naminé giggled louder.

"See? I didn't even tell you what I reaching for and you knew!"

She went to stretch higher and successfully grabbed the case off the shelf, before pulling down and turning to grin in my face. She was so darn cute…

Whoa, hit the brakes.

That was going too far.

With my head still turned away from her, I walked around her and went to rest on the other side of her locker as she was putting on her uniform shoes. I closed my eyes with a small smile on my face.

"Yeah well, that doesn't necessarily mean _I'm_ always predictable. If I knew what you were going to get, then aren't you pretty predictable yourself?"

"N-not true!"

I smirked.

"I know for a fact that right now, your eyes are probably wide open and your mouth is hanging open."

I lifted open one eye to look at her. I laughed.

"Guess I was right!"

Before I knew it, her hand came to slap me on the arm. Naminé may not be the toughest girl, but she sure is one of the quickest (and strongest).

But I'd never tell her that; she'd hit me all the time just to make sure it hurt.

And when I was just about to come out with another cocky retort to her actions, she quickly planted kiss to my cheek. I stood there frozen as she pulled away with a grin and light blush on her face.

"How's that for predictable?"

Then I watched still dumbfounded as she picked up her bag, slung it on her shoulder and walked past me.

Coming out of my senses, I blinked and whirled around to see her retreating figure go further down the hallway. I fisted my hands gently and spoke loud enough for her to hear but not the entire hallway.

"You don't just hit me, then kiss me, then walk away!"

Naminé stopped and turned on her heel to face me. She chuckled and pointed at her locker.

"You mind closing that for me? I'll see you third period!"

With that she turned back around and began walking away, waving a hand back to me. I heard her giggle as she left.

For a second, I stood there speechless and bright-eyed.

Naminé left me in this state a lot lately. I hoped it wasn't a permanent-type thing. She left me all excited, confused and frustrated all at the same time.

Not that I'm complaining.

I scratched the back of my head and laughed nervously as I watched her go around the corner.

"Oh!"

I watched as her head popped out from the other end of the hallway near the wall.

"Again today after school, right?"

I blinked not getting it until I understood. I grinned and gave her a thumbs up.

She gave me a wide smile, another quick wave, then she left.

When she was completely gone, I was still smiling.

Looking back to her locker, I turned my head hearing noises and noticed a couple of my guy friends looking at me. Some of them were snickering and others rolled their eyes. It wasn't until one of them sighed and spoke to me.

"When, man?"

They smiled some more and walked away from me, leaving to their homerooms.

When they were gone, I rolled my eyes and closed Naminé's locker, then I proceeded to my own.

Was it so hard for others to think that a guy and a girl could be best friends without thinking that something more going on?

I sighed.

…I still think hard over that question.

-'.().'-

I yawned loudly as I walked out of my second class. Waving bye to my friends in the class, I walked backed to my locker to change textbooks. I rubbed my eye with the back of my left hand as I walked.

Though I was happy about there being one more class left before lunch started, I still felt dumped on by the events that happened previous.

Sleeping through the first class had earned me a week's worth of lunch clean up. (Even though I'm okay with that – I get to eat whatever meals are left under the heat lamps in the front when they're not looking and it happens during my free period after lunch.) And the nap I fell into during the second class had gotten me an extra assignment to do for homework.

Not that I worried. I get pretty good grades and my teachers all like me …at least I hope they do.

Mornings usually end up being like this, especially when I don't sleep enough the previous night.

But when you're fifteen, do you ever?

Upon reaching my locker, I opened it quickly and pulled out my needed textbooks, switching their spots here and there. When I was done, I pulled my body to its extent and expelled another big yawn. I hated being this tired this late in the morning.

"Hi Sora!"

Turning to the voice, I smiled.

"Hey Kairi!" I scratched the back of my head and chuckled,

"Sorry you had to see that."

She laughed lightly and looked up to me with her blue eyes.

"It's okay."

Kairi was a pretty close friend of mine, not as close as Naminé, but we were still as tight as any teens who hung out a lot. And no matter what, she always has this light about her.

"So, what's up?"

While I waited for her response, I went around piling and organizing things in my locker that I hadn't done in a while. I could hear the smile in her voice, even with my face turned away from her.

"Nothing really, I'm on my way to history when I saw you. So I'm just stopping by to add a little Kairi to your morning."

She laughed. I laughed along with her. When I was done, I turned back to her.

"Wow, that's very thoughtful you."

Still smiling, she nodded.

"And I also came over to ask if Naminé and you'd like to join us later by the shorelines after school. Wakka's got another one going on."

Thinking about it made me laugh.

"Like he doesn't?"

She giggled and looked up at me.

"So what d'you say?"

Blinking back at her, I gave a warm smile and fixed my backpack over my shoulders before I turned to close my locker.

"Wish I could Kai but I can't. Sorry, I already made plans."

I turned to see her grin at me as if understanding.

"Naminé?"

I nodded shyly.

"Don't worry then. I'll tell the guys you can brawl with them another time. Catch you later!"

With that she walked off down the hallway, humming the school's anthem.

What was it with the girls in this school?

Then I thought of something and turned to look after her.

"Hey Kairi?"

She whirled around, a smile still on her face.

"Yeah?"

I scratched the back of my head and laughed.

"What's your favourite fruit?"

I watched as she titled her head to the side looking up in thought, her eyebrows furrowed. Clearly, I had confused her with such a random question. Then with a chuckle she called out,

"Cherry" and continued on.

I laughed.

"Alright then."

-'.().'-

Naminé burst out laughing. With my eyes closed, I grinned back at her, trying to suppress my own laughter that was building up. I wanted to keep a calm face for the both us in public.

When she was done, she flicked a strand of blonde hair out of her eyes and continued to stare at me.

"_Nine_?"

"Yup, nine!"

"And people actually answered?"

"Uh huh!"

"Let me see it!"

"No!"

"Awh come on, please?"

"No."

"Please Sora? Let me see it!"

Not letting me argue, she ran behind me and before I could grab her, she quickly unzipped my backpack and pulled out a small sheet of paper. Reading it up to down, she giggled and held it arms-length away from me.

"So, two for apples, three for strawberries and one each for orange, apple, cherry and kiwi?"

I laughed and using my quick reflexes I ran around her and grabbed the paper, putting it back in my bag.

"And tomorrow, this survey will have even more votes!"

I watched as Naminé stopped walking. She smirked and placed her hands on her hips.

"Don't tell me this started back when I asked you what your favourite fruit was?"

I smirked back at her then continued walking.

"Okay I won't tell you."

She laughed lightly and started walking again at my side. I was smiling.

"Hey Naminé? Today I'm feeling for something different today."

I couldn't help but turn to see her reaction. She face slightly fell and she pouted her lips.

"Really?"

Feeling a bit guilty, I went to put my arm around her slender shoulders. She instinctively rested her head against mine. I loved how she responded to me.

"It's not that I don't want to eat strawberries. I can't get enough of them! But…how 'bout we try another type?"

She giggled and tried to lean more into me.

"Another type of strawberry? Aren't the other types poisonous?"

I chuckled and tightened my hold on her. Then I lifted my head away from her and titled it to the side, smiling warmly down at her.

"How about a …..a blueberry?"

"Blueberries? Hmm…" I watched Naminé from underneath my gaze as she tapped her chin in that adorable way when she thought about the options. Then she lifted her head to look at me with a smile on her face. The sun cast a bright glow on her cheeks.

I felt my own heat up.

"I like it!"

Trying to fight it, I nodded with a smile and let go Naminé, and I went to hold her hand instead as we walked a moderate pace to town market.

-'.().'-

And that's it pretty much goes twice a week.

Ever since I had discovered Naminé's little secret love for strawberries, I take her to the market after school to buy a basket. Of course, she's still not up to the fact that we leave before regulated school hours and persists that karma will come to get us one day, she's never once resisted to ditch each time we do. I think my devil-may-care attitude towards school is starting to grow on her.

We change the days every week so as to not create suspicion. But we're both _extremely_ lucky to have gym as our last class; especially when our coach has eyes like a mole.

I chuckled.

It was secrets like Naminé's that kept me curious, thinking of what else my best friend hid from me that would end up turning good in my favour.

After we bought the blueberries, we returned to our regular spot on the edge of the botanical gardens that looked out to the centre of the island and sat there for a few comfortable minutes, eating our sweet fill.

The blueberries were just as delicious as the strawberries.

Naminé seemed to agree with my thought because at that moment, she let out an adorable squeal after swallowing a couple. She then went back to the small basket and scooped out a handful. She was sitting with her feet beneath her capris

I laughed as I watched her on my left. I was leaning back on my left hand with one leg stretched out and the other bent upwards. I had a blueberry in my right hand ready to eat.

"Whoa, relax! They'll still be there when you're done eating what you've got."

After munching on a few, she swallowed and giggled. Then she went back to filling her hand again, even though it wasn't empty.

"No they won't! Not when you and I are done with them in three minutes!"

I chuckled. I flicked the blueberry in my hand into my mouth and went to doing the same thing she was. She looked at me wide-eyed. I guess she wasn't ready for me to dive into them like she was.

Closing my eyes in amusement, I grinned at her. She gave me a raised eyebrow and a smirk before turning to smile at the sunset on the horizon. I followed her gaze. We stared ahead in comfortable silence for a while.

"I like this."

"Hmm?" I looked to her, tilting my head to the side.

She looked back at me with a warm smile. The cerise glow of the sun cast a soft, firey glow on her gentle, beautiful features. It made me feel fuzzy all over again.

"_This. _I like _this._ Just the two of us, …the sunset,…"

I smiled softly back at her, understanding where she was going.

"Yeah, …and a couple of blueberries."

She giggled at my response and went back to staring at the sun, nibbling on the little purple fruit. I kept my gaze on her for a bit longer before copying her actions. Then an idea popped into my mind and without turning to look at her, I voiced my thoughts.

"Let's try this,"

She turned to look at me with a curious smile. I continued.

"we'll try every berry, until we've tried them all!"

I grinned, and I knew it was infectious because Naminé grinned back.

"I'd like that! I've never tried all the berry fruits, that'll be a challenge. Some of them, probably won't even taste good!"

She giggled.

"So the next time, we try something new!"

I grin fell into a smile.

"Everytime we do this."

I turned to the sunset.

"Then,…"

Hearing her voice, I turned back to her curiously.

"…then can we go back to the strawberries?"

She smiled hopefully.

I smiled back and nodded my head.

Turning my head to look again to the horizon and thinking Naminé had done the same, I went to my own thoughts.

That was until I felt something small pelt me on the temple.

Naminé's giggle followed afterwards.

I turned to look at her mischievously and caught her with a cute, guilty look. A small smile crept to her lips.

"Sorry, I was trying to flick it into my mouth."

I chuckled and flicked a blueberry right back at her.

And as she gasped happily and went to retaliate, I felt my heart beat suddenly faster.

I was somehow beginning to know…

…what could be really going on.

--

There you have it! Hope you liked it :) and I added Kairi like the majority of my reviewers wanted. And I've decided switching the POV's to different people puts it more into perspective; though Sora isn't as descriptive :) Some things I may have left of detail but that's for you readers to wrap your minds around. Whatever your imagination brings, add it while you read :) I knew they're alittle OOC too but I think its a good change. Especially for Namine, I don't think she's the emo, quiet girl everyone thinks she is. She _does _talk to people like a regular happy person when she wants to :)

And now the rest is up to you, readers! This story will continue to follow the events involving other type of berries so send me a review :) Give the names of some berries you know, I'll using them to create the foundation of this story. I know some berries probably taste bad so tell me them too :) But not anything poisonous, I don't want our main characters dead. As the story grows on, Sora and Namine will continue to bond closer so stick around to see how it'll end, cause heck, I don't even know :) At least, that's what I'm telling you now. Thanks for reading! The next update I promise to make quicker but forgive me for the environment I live in; I won't be able to think it up so quickly. A month tops!  
In this time I must add, the creation of another Namora story will unfold and I'm really all jittery about it :) It'll be dark, twisted, and most likely rated M for the adult themes. The plot's all planned out and its on the way so be ready to search and find!  
That's all for now :) thank you again, guys!


	3. Cran

Hey guys! Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long :) I'm amazed by how many hits I've gotten off this story! It was just random work I'm doing for fun, but I guess it's always the ones you don't try to force out that end up turning great! However, though I'm glad you like it, leaving a review wouldn't hurt too :) So leave one when you're done: flame or fan, it doesn't matter. Also, check out the poll on my profile :) It'll help contribute to my future projects and ideas after seeing what the majority of you like. Alrite, here's chapter three of: Silk on Sky - Berry Bliss :) Enjoy!

Disclaimers: All rights disclaimed.

Quick notice: After this update, I am changing my penname to a new one :) I've been faithful to the name _KAutumnLeavesH_ for a while now but now I'm ready to change it. It will be _Abysilityy_ now.

* * *

"How many times are you planning to spin on that?"

I heard a chuckle follow that sentence afterwards.

Slowing spinning the office chair to catch his grinning face stare at me, I rolled my eyes playfully. He probably wanted a turn.

"Until I spin enough to make me sick."

I watched as he pouted and crossed his arms. I giggled.

Yup, I was right. Sora could be such a kid sometimes.

As if on cue, he stood up from the edge of the bed he was sitting on and went to stand right in front of me. I blushed lightly at the closeness of his body. It wasn't that he was so close that it became uncomfortable… well, not _just_ that. I could smell the scent of fresh laundry on his shirt... and I _really_ like that smell. You could ask my mom, I smell clothes all the time back at our house when she's done a load.

But…it somehow just smells better on Sora.

I blinked quickly. There I go again, talking about him like a he's some new sweater I want to buy. It's not fair of me to think like that. It's not good to use him like that. It's—!!

All of a sudden, I feel a sharp poke to my forehead and my hand comes up flying to rub it. Where did..?

Seeing movement in front of me, I realized that Sora was still standing in front me. How did I just go out of my head like that?

Looking up, I see him lean down till his face is directly opposite of mine. Our blue eyes centimetres apart, a warm smile is on his handsome face. I can only help but sweetly smile back.

"Okay then, fine! See how long you can last. I don't know if you stomach a snack after though."

A giggle escapes my lips before I can stop myself. I tend to do that more when he's around, and I hope it doesn't get on his nerves. Though I think it doesn't, considering he chuckled again after I did. ..And it's not like I'm fed up with his constant chuckling. He wouldn't be Sora if he didn't.

I put on a small grin and went back to spinning in circles in the black small office chair. Between views, I could see him head for the door. I called to him, my voice echoing off different points around the room.

"Can I have strawberry?"

I heard him laugh then his footsteps left the room for the hallway and were heading down the stairs to the kitchen. I kept on spinning.

Usually three times a week after school, I come over to Sora's house and kick it for a couple hours with him on snacks and homework. Whether it's the day we go berry-skipping or not (yeah, we dubbed it a name and it's codename: Sweet sweet.), I pretty much stay here all the time. Weekends are no exception. His place has become my second home and his parents are attached to my parents and me, like close relatives. So I'm always safe and comfortable in this forever tight-knit bond.

…I hope it will be forever.

I smiled softly. As I kept spinning, I saw quick flashes of his bedroom in my view. The tone of his room was vibrant of red, blue and black (with some yellow and white to my colour liking) and there were few bits and pieces of photos and other memories scattered all around. It was well-furnished, comfy and delightfully warm, though the breeze would float every once in a while through his always open window. But even so, it still tended to be a bit messy. I approved of this regular teenage boy's bedroom.

His room was where I liked to hang out most, aside from the marina shore out on the beach and our spot at the edge of the botanical gardens. Thinking about the blushful fauna, made me start to hum lightly. I smiled.

…When was the last time I had sketched? I shook my head chuckling.

My head started to feel dizzy. Maybe I should've kept count how many spins I did just to impress and annoy Sora. Hearing his footsteps again come back, I kept my eyes trained to the door. I'll watch him come in, but I won't stop spinning.

Seeing his figure re-enter, Sora was holding a colourful plastic tray, topped with two bowls, one full of white/brown content and the other pink. He had two spoons in between his teeth. Coming up to me, his eyes widened.

"You're still spinning?" That's what I managed to make out he said between the spoons.

"Yup, and I didn't stop once!"

With a smirk, I kept on going and went faster. I didn't want him to see how green my face was, as to how green I felt.

He somehow knew, between in between rotations, I saw him raise an eyebrow and follow with a smirk of his own. Sora went up to the bed to put the tray on and then come up to stand before me again. With a grin, he put a hand on my head.

At first, I was confused, not getting his reason for doing that desired action. He could've easily just grabbed the chair and stopped me, or pulled me off unexpectedly liked he usually does. I giggled.

"What're you…?"

Then I felt myself start to slow down until I came to a stop with my back turned to him.

Oh, so that works too.

Having a funny feeling on top of my head, I reached up a hand to touch my hair. I started patting and touching it in different parts… he just twisted all the hair on my head until it felt and probably _looked_ like a crop-circle! Suddenly I felt his voice and his breath ring into my left ear. I knew he was grinning.

"Got you strawberry."

Something about the way he said that, made my face heat up. Luckily the bangs on the sides of my face and my back to him, concealed the rising blush and my sparkling eyes from his view. I turned to him slowly in the chair and began fixing and combing through my hair. I glared at him but it only triggered laughter from him.

Watching as he went to sit on his bed again, reached over for the pink-filled bowl and handed it to me with a smile. When I was done combing my blonde locks through my fingers, I took it gratefully in my left hand. Then he pulled a spoon from between his teeth and handed it to me. I stuck my tongue out at him but took it anyway. The frost from the ice-cream left my palm and fingers all tingly. As I began eating, I watched as he went to get his own vanilla-chocolate bowl. After a few savoury sweet spoonfuls, he started conversation again. He was probably ready to crack some random topic that would surely both amuse and offend me. He always did.

"So… how're things?"

I stopped eating for a moment and looked up to him quickly. Sora's head was to a suddenly more interesting point on his bedroom floor. From where I looked, his eyes became all unfocused but concentrated at the same time. He was biting his lower lip gently and the hand his spoon was in kept coming up and down from out of his bowl. I lowered my spoon slowly.

What was with the sudden formality? Only strangers and forced-talkers used a question like that. I chewed the inside of my mouth and laughed nervously.

"Fine… I guess…?" I looked down then quickly looked back up to him with a small smile.

"Sora? What's with the small talk? You always have something to say."

I watched as his eyes went around room to everywhere…except me. He began to chuckle softly and roll his eyes to the ceiling and his hand went to scratch the back of his head. I scrunched my eyebrows together in confusion. He looked so deep in thought all of sudden (something that I can rarely say when it comes to his quick-thinking brain …and sometimes dense mind). Things were beginning to fall into the awkward department – a place Sora and I had never ventured into before.

It had me more concerned. What was his pressuring thought? And why couldn't he look at me? I kept watching him as he gazed around wonderingly, trying to pick different parts of his gearing mind to let me in… or let me out.

I blinked quickly to relieve myself of the thoughts then I went to start another conversation. Hopefully he would come back to me.

"Is the survey going good? I've asked some other people to poll, so you can add their tallies too. You'll probably have more fruits now for people to decide between."

At my voice, his head jerked up to stare at me directly in the eyes. I locked it with a soft gaze. Whatever he was thinking, I could easily pick up there. Sora always had the most expressive eyes. I searched his ocean blue with my crystal sapphire (that's what he claims the colour of my eyes is – I've never accepted another colour name after that). Nothing but happiness and hope floated there. Then I tilted my head to the side. Was there confusion there too?

Wait, of course there was. Sora hadn't heard what I was saying.

"Sora?"

He blinked and came back. I kept my head tilted to him with a smile but I inwardly sighed. What was with him today?

Seeing that I was still staring at him, a blush suddenly rushed to his cheeks and he brought his hand to scratch a side of his face. My eyebrows came together in more confusion. Was there something I was missing?

He laughed nervously and went back to eating. A warm smile spread across his face as his eyes lidded over. He coughed awkwardly.

"S-sorry Naminé."

I giggled and rolled my eyes. He's not the only boy who acts like this from time to time.

"S'okay."

--

After some minutes in comfortable silence (where I was sure Sora wasn't spacing out on me again), the ice-cream was finished and the bowls were put back on the tray. I went to sit with Sora on his bed. We were eventually found by his busy mom with our bodies laying vertically to the wall across us and our heads hanging over the side, staring at things upside-down. She chuckled as she stopped at the doorframe with a basket in her hands.

"Aren't you two going to do something useful?"

We both looked to her with our heads downside-up and smiles on our faces. I answered her first.

"Well, we already did all our homework. We'll probably get a B on today's assignment."

"A," Sora countered. I glared at him.

"Hey, _I_ did most of the research and your grammar stinks. So, we're getting a B."

"A." I rolled my eyes.

"A-."

I watched as he grinned.

"That'll do!"

I had to giggle. Then he turned back to his mom.

"And we already ate all the ice-cream, so we're just gonna stare at the ceiling."

Then we both went to try and look up from our vertically challenged heads. I heard as she chuckled again.

"Don't you want to do something more exciting? Like, head to the beach? The market? The island?"

We both groaned loudly. She laughed.

"Alright, stay there! But don't complain when you're older about how you missed out on the greatest years of your life! If I were your age, I'd be out everyday with my friends and trying to do the most craziest…."

Her voice trailed away as she began walking down the hallway to go back to her tasks. I heard Sora chuckle.

"Now there's a scary thought."

I gasped lightly then quickly went to punch him in the shoulder.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Sora!"

He laughed and I joined him. After it had died down, we went back to staring at the ceiling. A soft smile broke my features. I giggled.

"Remember when we used to stay up late at night during sleepovers just to annoy your Mom?"

Sora chuckled then went to shift position. When he had settled, his head was resting on my stomach and we laid perpendicular, but both drifted to the same thoughts.

"Yeah…we still do! But, it was more fun back then when weren't old enough to be allowed to."

I nodded my still hanging head as the memories flooded in.

--)(--

_A high-pitched giggle erupted from under the soft blue covers of Sora's bed. A snicker followed afterwards from the beneath the green folds of the futon on the floor. _

_Little Naminé__ threw the blue blanket sheets from over her head and went to crawl over to the edge of the bed to stare down into the dark where some crumpled lumps kept shifting excitedly._

'_Psst,' she called quickly and quietly._

_Little Sora threw his green covers from over his head and looked up to see her grinning face. He snickered again and went to pull a red flashlight from under his pillow._

_Naminé who wasn't expecting it, seeing as she couldn't see in the dark, was quickly surprised when the bright light of the flashlight illuminated under Sora's chin and gave him a scary-looking shadow of a face._

'_Boo!' he whispered harshly._

_Namin__é__ clamped her mouth over with her small hands and tried to stifle back the loud giggle that was bursting to come out._

_Ever since that day after kindergarten, they were inseparable. No one dared to break them up. Everyone, especially both their parents knew that a fast and tight-bonded friendship had grown between Namin__é__ and Sora. Nothing they all suspected could take that from them. It was built upon trust, safety, warmth, and happiness. And it came to a quick point that Namin__é was allowed to stay over at Sora's house and vice-versa, despite how young they were and what others thought was too-young a love developed between them._

_Suddenly, footsteps were heard making their way down the hall and came a stop at the closed door of Sora's room. Sora quickly switched off the flashlight and rushed to shove it under his pillow, while throwing the covers over his head again. Naminé did the same._

_The door wasn't clicked in and was left a crack open so the intruder pushed it gently open to stare down at the two four-year-olds. They laid frozen. A soft sigh followed afterwards. _

'_This is the second time I've had to come in here. Don't make me come in here again, you two' was whispered harshly but softly._

_With a warm but tired smile, Sora's mother pulled back the door back to its crack and walked back to her bedroom._

_After waiting a couple minutes, Naminé lifted her head from under the covers and looked cautiously to the door. When she was sure Sora's mother had probably gone back to sleep, she grinned and crawled back to the edge of Sora's bed and looked excitedly back down. _

_Hoping to see him there, smiling back up at her ready with a flashlight scare, she was left disappointed. He had unfortunately fallen asleep and was now snoring lightly. In the short minutes they were pretending to be asleep, he really __did__ go out and somehow the very sheet he had used to hide himself under, was twisted loosely around his entire small frame. His arms and legs were spread out in a starfish position and a part of him had fallen over the side of the futon._

_Naminé pouted her lips and made a tiny whine in the back of her throat before crawling back to her original spot. As she laid there, she looked up and began to think deeply. Sleep wouldn't come to her as quickly as it did for Sora._

_How could he already be sleeping? They had done this the first time without being tired… Maybe she was the one keeping him up when he really wanted to be sleeping. _

_Naminé's eyebrows knitted together. She felt bad. That was no way to treat a friend. _

_Her best__ friend._

_Then she suddenly smiled. Whether she liked it or not, she was now stuck with his spiky-haired boy for life and would have to endure his quick snoozes and short output of energy. _

_She shook her head. Maybe, it wouldn't be so short as they grew older. Maybe it would last longer, and then they could stay up all night until the sun rose._

_Naminé suddenly thought of something upsetting. Her eyebrows knit together again._

_But… What if…? What if the …'as they grew older' part never came? _

_Naminé's mind wrapped around the thought bitterly. What if all this happiness and laughter was just a ticking timer, until the day came that they'd stop being friends? Was that even a possibility? _

_As Naminé heard Sora's snoring from below, her eyes began to feel watery and vision began to blur._

_They were so close, everyone could see it. But…how close could two people be before it came to being __too__ close? _

_..Could they really be __best friends__ ..forever?_

_Before she knew it, Naminé's tears began to leak from her eyes and trail down her cheeks. A hiccup escaped from her lips. Quickly trying to hide the sound, she grabbed the blue blanket that had fallen at her lap and threw it over her head again, till all she could see was the pillow beneath her and the dark tent of the covers above. Another hiccup came._

_She didn't want to lose Sora. He was the best thing to ever happen to her. He always made her feel special and they always had the best fun together. Who would draw with her at school if they got mad at each other? Who would try to catch her in a game of tag at recess if they got in a fight? Who was going to teach her how to swim and fight with wooden toy swords if they never spoke to each other again?_

_Naminé's tears rolled faster down her face. It took a lot of fisting for her not to sob. _

_Had she not met him that first day at that small wooden table, laid with crayons and paper, she might have never known how important a best friend could be to her._

The very thought only helped to break the sob out of her mouth. When it was gone, she quickly clenched her teeth together and began to breathe deeply.

_Sora was everything to her. He was a brother, a dog, a little husband, and father all in one. She couldn't lose him. _

'_N-naminé?'_

_Naminé froze. Sora must've woken up after hearing her sob and was probably now listening to her quiet hiccups. _

_She slowly brought the cover over her head down and stared over to the edge of the bed. Expecting to see nothing but darkness, she was met with Sora's sleepy face as he rubbed a tired eye. It was quickly gone and replaced with shock and concern when he saw her teary features._

'_Nami? W-what's wrong?'_

_The nickname he had given her only made her cry more. Now utterly scared, Sora stood from his kneeling position with his bright blue eyes wide._

_Desperate for care, Naminé shakily reached out a small hand to grab a tiny fist of his white t-shirt. She looked up at him through her tears._

'_C-can you sleep w-with me tonight?'_

_Nodding frantically and still wide-eyed, Sora quickly crawled into bed beside her and rolled on his side to stare at her with concern and worry still etched all over his face. No other questions but to why she was crying ran through his young mind._

_Instinctively, she moved closer to him until her head was right at his shoulder. As Sora reached up a tiny hand to smoothen her head, he waited till her sobs died down before he said anything. Sora knew this was one of the things that helped to calm her down and make her feel safe. Though Naminé was pretty much of a girly-girl, he couldn't help but deny her desperate call for attention at vulnerability. _

_When she was done shaking and the hiccups had stopped, Sora lifted his hand away from her blonde hair. He kept his eyes on her._

'_Nami? What's wrong?' he asked quietly. _

_Though her hiccups were gone and the tears had stopped falling, she looked like she had more just brimming her eyelashes ready to fall. She stared up at him hopelessly, searching his face though not really looking for anything in particular._

'_Sora?...A-are you and I gonna be friends forever?' she replied shakily._

_He blinked._

_Is that what she had been so scared about? He grinned widely in the dark._

'_Of course!' he whispered happily._

_She leaned more into his shoulder. She wanted more._

'_You promise?' she whispered. As she tried to get more out, her eyes began to droop._

_Great, now the sandman comes._

_Naminé wanted to dig more memories and worries out but when she was ready to cry again, a hand came to hers and locked its pinky with her own._

'_I promise, Nami.'_

_Naminé's eyes widened and suddenly all the worries about losing her best friend were wiped away, for just feeling the lock of his finger with hers, made their friendship feel like the strongest lifeline to her._

_As he yawned sleepily, she yawned too. She was finally ready to go the sleep. _

'_I promise' he whispered again before drifting back to sleep._

_And as Naminé went to sleep herself, a small smile spread across her lips and the leftover tears fell down her face, replaying Sora's words in her dreamy mind and feeling their locked pinkies under the sheets._

--)(--

I sighed with a warm smile on my face as I felt my eyelids come halfway over my gaze.

"You always let me have your bed whenever I come over… and that night when I was crying, you slept beside me to make me feel better…"

I felt Sora's head turn to one side, probably to gaze where my head was supposed to be on the bed. I felt the muscles in his face stretch over my stomach and I knew he was smiling.

"I did it to protect you."

...I blinked not really understanding.

"How?"

"Remember how I said I'd always protect you, no matter what?"

"Yeah…?"

"Well …I meant _no matter what._"

Still not following, I pulled my head back up from the edge of the bed and looked down at him with my hands supporting my upper body. I had no feeling in my legs and all the blood was starting to drain from my head. It left me sick but anxious, so I titled my head to the side and gave Sora a perplexed look.

"But …I didn't need protection when I was worried about our friendship. I needed comfort."

Sora kept his blue eyes on me for a while longer before turning it back to look at the wall and desk in front of his gaze. The movement left my stomach all tickly. As he spoke, I watched his eyes lid over with a warm smile too.

"Comfort _is_ protection… That much I knew ...the night you thought you were gonna lose me."

"…I'm not, right?"

Sora quickly turned his head back to me. I knew he saw the concern and worry in my eyes. My body shook a little. Even though he made me trust that night that we'd always be friends forever, and considering how we're still so close now… I can't help but still believe there's always going to be room for breakup. I had vowed from that night to myself in my heart that no matter what, our friendship would always be put on the highest pedestal in my life, and I would always keep it that way.

With my eyes slightly blurry, I continued to watch his face. And just when I thought there was the same look of concern and worry in his eyes, it was gone and nothing but warmth, happiness …and maybe something more remained. Then he spoke.

"Naminé... I'm still here.. and I always will be. You can count on it."

With a light giggle and some blush I felt rising in my cheeks, I leaned down and planted a soft kiss to his cheek. I hovered over his face for a few seconds.

"I won't have to count. Forever is much too long to keep on counting."

As I smiled down to him with my eyes closed, I felt Sora reach his hand up to cup my cheek and pull me down slowly. My eyes opened wide.

Was he going to…

Before I knew it, he had pulled so me far that when I was sure our lips would touch, he jerked me head to the side and my face met the fabric of the bed sheets. I laughed lightly into it and pulled my head back to give him a mischievous grin. He had his arms behind his head and with his eyes closed, he grinned cheekily.

With a huff, I raised the lower part of my body up and used my shoulders to push him so far that he went over the bed. When I heard the satisfying _thump _and painful groan that followed afterwards, laughed and doubled over on the bed.

Unfortunately, the laughing fit had me rolling over so far, I fell off the bed too. And of course, Sora got to get a laugh himself.

As I rubbed my side, I rolled my eyes in his direction and stood up. He was still laughing.

"Yeah yeah…. So? What's the new one today?"

With one final chuckle, he got up and went to stand beside me, running a hand through his hair. I found myself staring. God, I loved his brown spikes.

The thought made me giggle. Sora shot me a raised eyebrow and a playful smirk then he urned to stare around the room.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Come on, my mom got it for us."

He lead me out the room and down the stairs to their first floor and into the kitchen. Along the way, I gazed here and there at all the photo frames hanging on the walls and all the objects I'd known and grown attached to for years. Nothing ever really dramatically changes in Sora's home, which I'm thankful for. Especially when it comes to their kitchen.

As we entered it, the familiar smell of island spices and homemade food wafted happily into my nose. Though his mom wasn't cooking anything today, it always had this distinct smell anyway. Sora quickly went for a plastic container on the table near the back door. As he did so, I rushed over to the sink where the open window was letting a breeze through and I adjusted the uneven curtains that were blowing gently. When I had fixed and aligned them perfectly, I turned back to him… only to the see him shake his head with a sigh. I gave him the 'you-should-know-me-by-now' look.

When I had walked over to him, he opened the plastic container and put it back on the table.

"She got them for us today while we were in school. They're at their ripest so we won't have to worry about them being sour."

I leaned in more to inspect them but I was beginning to grow sceptical. I looked back to him for reassurance.

"Are you sure? I've heard people talk about this kind. It's not really that great."

Sora put a hand on my shoulder and smiled.

"We can't believe them until we try for ourselves. It can't be that bad."

I raised on eyebrow at him.

"Then you won't mind trying it first."

He gave me a smirk.

"Together."

I nodded and giggled then we both reached our hands into the container and each pulled out a tiny red berry. On the count of three, we popped them into our mouths and began to chew. After a couple seconds I heard Sora swallow. I turned and saw him with a defeated look and weak smile on his face.

"I-It's not that bad."

He looked over to me. When I was done and swallowed, I sucked in my face and licked my lower lip, trying to find a better taste.

"I-It's ..uh…bitter. But y-yeah ...not bad."

Seeing my face, he chuckled and went over to the doorframe to call his Mom. AS he did so, I stared blankly at the container.

I knew cranberries were a bit sour, but who knew they'd be _this_ hard on my taste buds. As I continued with my squeamish thoughts, Sora's mom came in and gave us a playful grin.

"Not good?"

We both shook our heads slowly following with simultaneous replies like "No!", "Uhmm...", "Gross!", "Wow…", "Not particularly.", and finally "Ew…" at the same time.

She laughed then went for a shelf and pulled out a cold, sweating carton.

"Well, why don't you try this then? I just picked it up a couple minutes ago so it's still cold."

Then she handed it to Sora (who gave her a questioning look and a tilt of his head) before heading back out the kitchen.

"You might like it," we hear her say before disappearing again.

Sora looked at me then went to reading the carton. His face instantly lit up. I raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

He turned the carton to show me the label still grinning. I gave him a blank look.

"Cranberry juice? How d'you know it'll be any better?"

"Juice makes _everything_ better!"

I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"Alright then, juice boy. Let's try a glass."

I watched as Sora eagerly went to get to glasses from the cupboard while I went to sit down before the kitchen table. When I had settled, he was already grabbing a seat too then opened the carton's seal and began pouring it full into each glass. I rolled my eyes again.

Oh yeah, he's _so_ got this maturity thing all down.

When he had put the carton aside, he picked up his own glass while I reached for mine. He was still grinning.

"Cheers!"

I chuckled but clinked glasses with him anyway then we both took a large gulp.

That was a mistake.

The moment it washed into the back of my mouth, I coughed and spit it back into the glass, making a disgusted face. I wiped my tongue with the back of my hand, trying to get the taste off. Sora did the same, though his efforts of spitting it back into the glass had missed by an arms' length and went all over his shirt.

"Oh wow…"

I looked at him still gagging too.

"Never will I trust the word _juice_ again."

Sora laughed. I smiled.

"You wanna get out of here now?"

He turned to look at me and smiled back.

"Definitely."

We both got up form our chairs and went to the sink where the juice from the glasses and the carton were both drained. Then washing the glasses and throwing away the garbage, we headed for the front door. I stopped to turn and look at him before we went through.

"Don't you want to change your shirt?"

He blinked and looked down before grinning back at me.

"Nah, I want this to be my remainder."

I chuckled then we continued through he door and walked down the path from his house and onto the peaceful road. Remembering something I turned to look at him.

"Hey, what will we tell your mom when she finds the empty carton? She'll think we like it."

As soon as I said that, Sora stopped midway in his walk and turned to look at me alarmingly. We both dashed back for the kitchen to get the carton and dispose of it somewhere else.

Too bad she asked anyway.

And Sora, being the cute but _idiot_ guy he is, told her we liked it so she ended up getting more.

* * *

There you have it :) Stay alert for chapter four! I want to thank those who gave me berry suggestions! Keep 'em coming :) I've never heard of some of them before, so it was fun to find out! And yes, I know how cranberry juice tastes :P Horrible! Well.. at least I think it is. Also, I've considered how the story should work during each chapter: a flashback, followed by a fluff moment, then finalize with a berry on top :) Sound good? Alrite! Oh, and how you would like this story to continue? Should their friendship end at one point or should it stay smooth and sweet all the way? Leave me a review and tell me :) Thanks everyone and I will see you at next update. And remember I'm changing my name!  
Personal AN: NaminexSora lover, you know what to do! :)


	4. Rasp

Sup everybody! This is Aby, or _Abysilityy_, coming to you from a new location in the GTA :) Oh my gosh, it's been almost a year since my last update! For real? Wow, that really sucks. SO, so sorry to everybody who expected me to update within a week... I've come to realize that August is the most active month of the year for me when it comes to writing. Weird huh? Not that it's going to become like, the _only_ month when I'll update. That'd be sad. Unfortunately, after this update, I'll be heading down to the Caribbean for a two-week vaca, so no new updates for a bit :( However! While I'm down there, bored out of my skull, I hope to finish up to five new chapters for my Namora stories :) The next update should be for _Cold Taste... _in September. Damn. Haha, I told you August works better for me. In conclusion, it all pretty much sucks downhill from here :P It really sucks. Haha, but anyhow, again, my apologies for being the slowest writer on the planet xD And I hope you enjoy a finally new chapter to the fanfic:

_Silk on Sky: Berry Bliss_

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Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is the property of Square Enix and Tetsuyo Nomura. I do not own the characters …but I do own this story. So there.

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Quick AN: Just as the majority of readers wanted (thanks for the views and reviews!), there is more friendship between our two main characters along the way :) The development of romance... well, we'll just have to wait and see where the berries take them. More comedy on the way too!

Some of this chapter's content was based off previous memories of my own as a kid. Enjoy my budds!

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_It doesn't matter how long you've known her, all that matters is that she's had you smiling since day one._

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"God, why? _Why?!_"

A friend beside me laughed as I slammed my head on the desk multiple times.

"That's what you get for sitting there, dude."

Lifting my head from the wooden surface, I turned to stare at him, showing him the sweat that perspired on my forehead and neck, and the red bump that I felt was beginning to form. I groaned loudly.

"It's _so _hot!! Ugh, why do we have to get the homeroom without blinds?!"

My friend shrugged and stared amusingly at the bump on my face. I watched as his turquoise irises shined with mischief - wow, did that sound as weird as I thought it did? If I wasn't feeling so fried, I would've told him to quit it.

"You know that teach of ours. He thinks it's good for the brain in the morning or somethin'."

He went to put his arm around my shoulder and shake it in a brotherly action. My head slammed on the desk beneath me again. I sighed, panting heavily.

The sun is really starting to burn against my back... and the white-button shirt and damn tie around my neck is doing nothing whatsoever to help me breathe.

"This _sucks._ This really..." My friend laughed again.

"Don't worry, budd. In a couple minutes, first period's gonna start and you can have all the time you want to dry off in class."

I looked up at him with a scowl on my face.

"Aw, you know that makes it even worse."

"Why?"

"School hasn't even _started_ yet!"

He laughed for the third time. And even though I smiled sympatheically toward him, I was resisting the urge to get up, push him out of his seat, and take his spot away from the window. Eyeing the mask I was putting on, he grinned sheepishly and got up from his seat.

"Here, take it. I'm gonna see what Gil's up to over there with the girls."

Looking across the room to where his thumb was gesturing, I noticed said boy was lifting a friend of mine over his shoulders trying to put her in a nearby janitor's garbage bin. The whole while she kept yelled him to put her down, slipping in threats whenever she could. I chuckled and looked back to my friend.

"Alright. Thanks man."

"Laters."

With that, I watched him leave to head over across the classroom, his silver, wind-whipped hair trailing behind him. Even though Riku's the definition of smart-ass, he's still my close friend. We don't share any classes together though. He's a year ahead. I jumped into his seat almost immediately.

I sighed as the heat decreased around me and sunlight was no longer blinding me. Wiping my forehead with the back of my hand, I closed my eyes and day-dreamed about different things.

With the weekend over, I was back to inwardly crying about the school hours again. It starts eight in the morning, but first period doesn't start for another half-hour. Nothing actually happens during homeroom; our teacher is a softie and everybody is still pretty much sleeping and bored with the time. I especially hate how our homeroom faces the east side of the island. We feel the heat of the sun directed to us and with a strange teacher like ours, we've got no shutters, blinds, or curtains to stop the intense light that burns through. He says, _'it's good for youth like you to feel energized first thing in the morning.'_

Energized? Ha, that's a freaking under-threat.

If I wasn't trying to perfect the illusion of being a _model student_ for my parents, I would've used the extra 30 minutes to sleep in and come before classes started. That's the only feeling I want first thing in the morning.

I chuckled at the thought then smiled.

But then again, Naminé wouldn't let me sleep in. She'd probably find a way to drag me to school, whether or not I was awake, just so I wouldn't damage my attendance record.

_Naminé..._

The smile I wore instantly fell and I replaced with a pout.

Whoa, that felt weird.

Thinking about her suddenly turned a small knot in my stomach.

Going back to a few days ago, on the Friday when we had tried the cranberries for the first time - let me just throw in, _Ew!_ - I remembered how awkward I had been with her while we ate our ice cream in my bedroom. Everything went back to normal afterwards, but I can't help thinking about that moment. I was feeling so many different things.

They were all strange... some felt wrong, some felt right. But why was she affecting me so much now?

As I pictured her face in my head, the smile I lost was slowly starting to grow again.

I shook my head. Whether or not it all seemed different with her for a moment or two, I knew Naminé was still Naminé. She would always bring out weird emotions in me.

Hey, that's what best friend do, right?

And the fact that she _is_ my best friend doesn't really make it weird. I always analyse her. I think about her all the time. It's hard not to when you've been close with someone for so many years.

The fact that she's a girl... just tit a little more time to figure out.

And dare I say, more fun?

I chuckled again.

"This is all getting too weird."

After I had concluded that, the rest of train of thought of cut short as the familiar bells of the schools chimed off. Everyone in my homeroom got silent. Oh yeah, did I forget to tell that there are about twenty of us plus our teacher in the room? Heh, I don't think it really matters actually. Sorry.

Scurrying to vacant seats, we all sat down until the familiar _"Please stand for the school and national anthem,"_ was heard over the PA system.

I grumbled as I stood.

I'm pretty sure Naminé and Kairi were dying to finally sing it.

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xxxOxxx

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"I do not die waiting to sing it!"

"Psh, yeah I bet you do!"

I smirked as Naminé tried to reach over and slap me in the shoulder. I pulled back far enough for her to miss. As she settled back in her seat, I watched her pout slightly as she started playing with her hair over her shoulder.

"So I like it. So what? It's got a catchy tune. Don't you like it sometimes?"

I chuckled as she looked up at me with hopeful eyes. She was so cute trying to get me to agree with her. It's hard not to when she looks like that.

The sudden thought made a heat rise to my cheeks.

"I.. uh..uhm, w-!"

Naminé eyed me curiosly. God, she makes my face red. I prayed that she'd take it as an embarassing confession to her question rather than how uncomfortable she made me under her cute stare.

She giggled and pointed at me.

"Ha! See? I _knew_ you liked it! Oh, we are definitely singing it on the way home today!"

I sighed, relieved she didn't see through me. I put my hands behind my head and leaned back into the chair I was sitting in.

"Uh, yeah. Whatever, Nami." Looking over to her face as I chuckled, I watched as she rolled her eyes.

And that's how third period pretty much goes for me. I'll meet Naminé at either one of our lockers, then we head over together to the west side of building and lounge in the English room with the rest of our friends for a couple minutes before class starts. Talking about anything, laughing about nothing, thinking about food - it's all good. Especially with her here.

As I turned my head to stare at my other friends around the room, Naminé started up another convo.

"Did you hear? We've got a fire drill today."

"We do?"

I turned my head slightly over to the left to see her give me the lifted-eyebrow-smirk look.

Leave it to her to see through my uncanny ability of being able to actually listen to announcements in the morning. She giggled.

"Yup, Deaf-o. They said sometime in the morning before lunch and since lunch is next, I'm guessing it's this period."

I dropped my hands instantly from their place behind my head and fisted them in the air. I closed my eyes as I grinned.

"Yes! Free break!"

Naminé blinked and pointed a finger accusingly at me, narrowing her eyes slightly. Of course she'd try to find the bad points in this.

"Think about how much time that takes out of our class!"

I chuckled.

"Why do we hang out again?"

As I turned to look at her smugly, I expected to see her ready with a retort. But I froze the moment I stared at her. That warm fuzzy feeling was all over me again.

Naminé's glare instantly fell into soft smile and she giggled. I had to quirk an eyebrow.

"What?"

I curiosly watcher her as she rolled her eyes then look to the front of the class.

"Nothing. It's nothing..."

I inwardly cringed to her sudden change in behaviour.

Again with the girl secrets? What's with the female mind?

I about to start a change in conversation when the familiar bell chime went off and the class started. As several students flew in and around the classroom to get to their designated seats, Naminé stood up from the desk where she sat and patted my head. She grinned as she walked across the room to sit in the seat, three desks to left, from where I was sitting. I continued to stare at her as she greeted fellow friends around her and got her things out.

Turning to the front as everyone settled in, I scratched the back of my head.

Would Naminé _ever_ make sense, now that I thought about it?

She was so complex.

Hell, all girls were.

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xxxOxxx

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_"So he hasn't put blinds up yet?"_

I rolled my eyes with a small smile. Then, looking up quickly to where the teacher was standing and talking, I made sure she wasn't looking in my direction before I brought my head down to scribble a reply to Naminé's message.

_''He sucks :( "_

We've been doing this for about five minutes now and I'm glad our teacher hasn't spotted us yet. The friends between me and Naminé have been ultra sneaky, passing our notes to each other.

But it kinda surprises me that she hasn't caught _anyone_ yet. There's about five other people passing notes too.

I chuckled but when I realized that might've created suspicion, I bit down on my lip nervously.

Flicking my eyes over to my friend on my left to signal I was ready, then to Naminé on the other end, we all turned to stare at the teacher quickly before it was go-time. When her head was turned to direct the class to a point on the blackboard, I swiftly handed the crumpled paper into my friend's open right hand. She then brought it to her left and continued the cycle with the next friend.

Looking over cautiously when Naminé finally received the note, I smirked as I watched her shoulders shake lightly. It told me she was giggling inside. Turning my head back to the front as she wrote a response, I smiled widely.

I mentally reminded myself to give her a pat on the back for breaking the rules with me once lunch started. I've been so impressed with Naminé's daredevil streak this past week. Ditching school early, growing a bit lazy, passing notes in class. The previous her would've straight scolded and hit me if I'd even suggested it. Now, she'd be openly up for it and laugh with the thrill of consequences. She still tries to tell me it's wrong, but she's never backed down yet. Why she's so persistent to join me, still kind of confuses me.

I smirked. When was this karma going to me like she said it would?

I listened to the teacher's response about late Englishmen analogies on women while I waited for Naminé's mesage to come back. When her eyes flitted over to mine as she spoke, I instantly stiffened up and tried to give her the best look of mild concentration that I had. When you look too focused, they start asking you questions, you know?

I laughed inwardly.

It was really pathetic. I didn't even know what we were supposed to be discussing today. At least I could ask Naminé after class was over. Even when she's passing notes with me, she still manages to pay attention to the lessons.

Heh, Naminé. My little information tablet.

"Psst."

Waiting for the right moment, I inclined my head slightly over to my friend on the left. She had the crumpled ball in her hand. When we were ready, she passed it to me. I nodded with a smile, silently giving her thanks for all the help. My eyes fleeted over to Naminé. She was busy answering a question the teacher had directed to her.

Seeing this brief opportunity, I uncurled the ball gently and read the new line of ink under mine. Namine's staight but curvy writing in blue ink was there.

_"Haha! At least you get fresh cookies in the morning :) "_

I chuckled softly. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that my homeroom is right next to the Home Economics department and the teachers give us a treat every morning? Yeah, my homeroom is right next to the Home Economics department and the teachers give us a treat every morning. Heh, well now you know. Naminé's is on the main floor as well, just down the hall and across from the Music room. I've noticed we're never too far apart, even after all this time, and I enjoy it everyday.

_"Lol, that's right! Be jealous!"_

When I had finished writing I sent it back her way. As I waited, another note was passed to me and I quickly sent it behind me. It was like the note-passers' highway in this room, and the teacher was still oblivious. I kind of have a sinking feel though that she might've secretly known already and was preparing to give us all major assignments when class ended.

Great.

When Naminé's note came back full circle, I read it quickly and replied. Here's how it went for the last remaining minutes before the fire alarm went off:

_"You know I am. Haha, are you even paying attention to her??"_

_"No. Are you?"_

_"Of course. I'm not like you, ya know."_

_"Lol, good. You can tell me what she's been talking about these past 40 min."_

_"You're such a lazy bum :P"_

_"Love you too, thanks!"_

After she had finished replying, I was going to write back if we were still on for the market after school, but I didn't get the chance. Once the alarm went off, we were shepherded into a double line and lead out to the nearest exit. We're lined alphabetically by last-name, so Naminé is ahead at the front of the line. I couldn't reach her. I'd tell her at lunch, class would be over once we returned.

As we walked out the room and down the hall to the main doors, I cringed my ears past every alarm system. They are really annoying. Walking past multiple classes, I noticed another close friend of mine named Tidus was doing the same. We smirked as we walked past one another.

"You on for tomorrow, Sora?" His voice was louder over the ringing. I grinned when he brought up Blitzball.

"You know it!"

The thought of the game was enough to lighten my current mood over the alarms. Once everyonce reached the open gym field, our teacher turned to our class while holding out her clipboard and pen.

"Okay everyone, find your homeroom teachers. Then come back here. Hurry now!"

As she said this, a couple of students from her own homeroom were already coming up to her to get their attendance checked before sccurying back to their previous teachers. Our class began to disperse throughout the large crowd. Knowing I couldn't catch Naminé in a crowd this messed, I raised an eyebrow and turned my head around quickly. I was sure I had seen my HT a couple seconds back, up near the bleachers.

As I made my way across toward them, I dodged multiple people and grinned to friends I saw here and there. I even waved to Kairi as I passed her on the way. Thinking about the whole thing, I scrunched my face.

Maybe this free break I wanted so much would cut into my lunch time if I took too long finding him... No! I could _not_ let that happen. Food is like, the top priority in my life!

Well, there's that and mom.. and dad... and N-!

I shook my head wildly, my hair went everywhere.

Not now. I couldn't think about things like that now. I had a mission to complete.

I was just about to break into a run for the end of the field, when I saw Naminé breeze right past me with a smile on her face. As she crossed my path, I felt her put her hand into mine.

"See you at lunch!"

I smiled warmly back at her. As she turned her head back to see in front of her, I smirked as she ran to the right of the field, probably to where her own homeroom class was.

Was she blushing just then?

I shook my head again and began to make my way yet again to the bleachers. Suddenly, I blinked.

Was I holding something?

I looked down perplexed. I noticed there was a ball of crumpled paper in my left hand. I smiled.

Guess she had something to say to me that she couldn't wait for lunch. I uncrumpled the familiar sheet and skimmed the previous sentences until I reached the bottom.

_"Sweet sweet. Tonight?"_

We practically read each other's minds.

As I continued over to the bleachers, I crumpled the paper again and put it in my pocket.

I smiled.

_Reading each other's minds..._

The thought brought back another random memory to me.

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xxxOxxx

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_'10, 000 feet! Up the Alps! On Mount Koyari! Let's do the, Alpine dance! Hey! Lalalalalalala ,Lalalalalala, Lalalalalalalala, Lalalalala, Hey!'_

_Naminé and Kairi laughed as they clapped their hands to the beat of the song. Riku covered his face with a small hand._

_'No, not __that__ song!' _

_After they had finished repeating it, Kairi giggled in a high-pitched squeal and turned her head to stare at him from where he sat on one of the wooden posts that supported the dock. _

_'Awh, don't be a bad guy, Riku! We used to sing that all the time when we were little!'_

_'Only 'cause we were brain-dead.'_

_Sora laughed as Riku chuckled to his own comment. _

_Tidus jumped in with a light chuckle before he jumped down from his standing position to sit next to Kairi._

_'Ooh, ooh! How about this one? This is the song that never ends-!'_

_Immediately recognizing it, Kairi cheered and Naminé clapped her hands again. Both joined in._

_'- and it goes on and on, my friend! Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was. And they'll continue singing it forever just because-!'_

_Riku groaned out loudly, lifting his head up to the sky._

_'Make it end!!'_

_Sora laughed again at his supposedly 'doomed' behaviour and went back to staring at the three, all the while swinging his feet back and forth over the edge of the wooden surface. _

_The five, young eight-year-olds were happily (majority anyway, excluding Riku) basking in the sun's rays as they spent their Saturday afternoon at their favourite spot on the marina docks. They always took the one at the very end so as to not cause a loud banter for the other fishermen working, and to stare from the closet point over to the island where they played. They chose to relax at the docks before heading over for the rest of the day. _

_As Sora looked out to the island, he observed his other friends already over there, running around and yelling to one another. He could make out Selphie's rope twirling, Wakka's blitzball thrown in the air, and others with their possesions running up, down, in and out of different spots he knew well. He couldn't wait to join them._

_Turning his head back to the friends currently with him, he couldn't help but grin. Tidus and Kairi had somehow managed to pull Riku between them and they were all trying to sway him back and forth with them to the song. Sora laughed as Naminé clapped jubilantly while Kairi grinned with her eyes closed. Tidus was trying to put his arm around Riku, but failed at all attempts. _

_It was all getting so weird._

_Sora stood up from his sitting position and went to move closer to the four, kneeling beside Naminé as the song was finishing. When it was over, Naminé gave a long, happy sigh before she looked up at him with a big smile on her face._

_'You got a song, Sora?'_

_As he looked down to her, Sora's face went a bit red. _

_There she went again, being all cutesy and putting him on the spot. His mind jumbled. _

_'Me? Well... uhh, I...a song? Uhm, hmm. T-!'_

_Riku laughed. Despite his currently uncomfortable position, he was enjoying the moment with his friends, especially when it came to Sora and his problems._

_'Come on, dummy. Pick a song. You don't want to disappoint Nami, do ya?'_

_Sora blinked twice, feeling his face heat up to two degrees higher. _

_'O-of course not!'_

_Looking back down to her, he watched nervously as she eyed him with big, curious eyes. He gulped a little. _

_She had to quit staring at him like that. His heart was racing. _

_In the three he had known her, for the first time, she was freaking him out. He didn't believe it to be 'girls-are-icky' fact._

_Girls always made him feel so squeamish. They made him feel guilty, even when he didn't do anything wrong. Even Kairi left him feeling like this sometimes. _

_Thinking she was gonna laugh at him, he was relieved and almost surprised when she gave him a small smile._

_She tilted her head to the side._

_'Yeah, come on, Sora. You thinkin' of one?' _

_He smiled sheepishly. Her soft reassurance was suddenly filling him with relief and confidence. When Naminé did that, he felt somewhat more powerful. That's what he liked about her. _

_Staring into her face now with a small grin, Sora noticed how the wind from the ocean picked up and blew her hair around. He admired the gleam the sunlight reflected off of it. _

_Suddenly, a song popped into his head._

_'Yeah! I've got one!'_

_He bent his legs to sit on the edge again, this time shoulder to shoulder with Naminé. As they all waited for him, he coughed nervously and began._

_'You are my sunshine, my only sunshine - !'_

_Naminé blinked her eyes rapidly and grinned. She read his mind._

_'Aw, I remember that one!' She joined him, nudging his shoulder in reassurance again to make him sing louder._

_'You make me happy when skies are grey!'_

_Kairi and Riku grinned happily. They chose to listen in silence._

_'You'll never know dear, how much I love you!.... Please don't take my sunshine away!'_

_Naminé cheered and Kairi clapped. Riku though smiling, he secretly lifted an eyebrow in Sora's direction. _

_'Nice one, Sora.'_

_Sora scratched his cheek, nervously grinning._

_'Ta-da?' _

_Everyone laughed. Tidus was the only one left to give feedback._

_'Awh, why'd you pick that song? That song's for sissys!'_

_Kairi elbowed him in the gut that he painfully wimpered to._

_'Well, __I__ thought it was very sweet.' Naminé nodded in agreement._

_'Me too! I liked it, Sora.'_

_He laughed while shaking a little._

_'Heh, thanks.' _

_Riku chose to jump into the conversation - a thought had just occured to him._

_'I know why he picked that song. 'Cause it was all about __Naminé__!'_

_Kairi widened her eyes and looked over to Sora with her mouth opened, outwardly excited. She, like their other girl friend Selphie, was a hopeless romantic._

_'Aww, really?? Is that true, Sora?!!'_

_Sora blinked multiple times then widened his ocean, blue eyes. His face quickly flushed red again._

_'Huh?! W-Uhm, Riku! T-! W-what are you - !'_

_Naminé looked up at his face, innocently curious. She was only eight, and not into love like Kairi was. She didn't get it as fast._

_'Sora...?'_

_Tidus, suddenly realizing Riku's trick, smiled slyly and leaned out more from his spot beside Riku to stare at Sora's face. He exaggerated his words as he spoke._

_'Of cooourse it was, Kairi! All that sunshine talk? He's talkin' about her hair! Sora looooves Nami!'_

_Kairi, who had been staring at Tidus while he was making his comment, quickly whipped her head to Sora's face again too, her two red pigtails swinging around her face. Her blue eyes were shining brightly._

_'Awwhh! That's so sweet! Tell him, Nami!'_

_Naminé looked from Kairi's face to Sora's. She smiled sympathetically as she watched his whole body shake and his face grow flustered. She knew how bad he hated being pressured into things he didn't like. Hey, she was his best friend. She knew alot of things about him - as she thought about his distress, she decided there was another thing in particular she liked about him alot._

_Leaning up, he pecked him on the cheek for the very first time._

_Tidus gasped. Kairi squealed. Riku just smirked. Sora, was petrified. He froze there as his mind went blank and his heart went racing. __But as he wrapped his mind around what just happened, the suffocating feeling in his chest quickly burned it out. _

_Naminé was special to him. No amount of nervousness, fear, or shock he attained from or about her would make him forget that. As he thought this, she settled back into sitting position and averted her blue gaze to the water below her._

_'I'm...uh.. glad that I'm you're sunshine, Sora... Thank you.'_

_Sora wasn't sure what to reply with at the moment. Normally, if they had fuzzy moments like this, he could find the right words to say back. But with the other three here, he felt terribly put on the spot and was lost for words. _

_Thinking Sora had enough, Riku coughed lightly to break the tension and stood up. Stepping back from the others to wipe the dirt off his boy shorts, he smiled._

_'Alright, let's head over there now!'_

_Tidus, already bored with the scenario, jumped up and stretched._

_'Yeah, come on guys!' He and Riku made their way over to where their boats were tied._

_Kairi sat a little longer, staring at the two. She hoped for something more to happen but when it didn't seem to come, she sighed dramatically and got up. She tugged Naminé's arm on the way. _

_'Yeah, you two. Let's gooo!'_

_The quicker they got over to the island, the quicker she could rally together all the girls and have a super secret meeting about Naminé's kiss with Sora. It made her all jittery with excitement._

_Naminé hadn't moved still from where she sat. Looking back up, she eyed Sora curiously, the little blush was still on her face._

_'Uh... you okay?'_

_As much as she had enjoyed giving him the quick peck, Naminé wondered if the move was a little too fast for her little best friend. She knew he was a boy and all, and that they hated mushy things. The thought made her eyebrows furrow together. _

_She was concerned in hoping that it didn't affect their friendship. He still hadn't responded to her yet. Even now as he continued to stare at her face, then the floor for several moments, she wondered if she had wrecked it. _

_Feeling glum, her face went crestfallen and her heart began to beat wildly. What would it be like now with him?_

_Not wanting to find out this very day, Naminé quickly rose to her feet and headed to the boat where Kairi was already anxiously waiting in. _

_'Y-yeah....'_

_The minute they reached the island, she decided she'd find a place to hide for the rest of the time there. Not confronting Sora, not anybody. She didn't want them to see her cry when it happened. _

_With Naminé's movement, Sora finally found the mind he had lost in the haze of the moment. He wasn't exactly sure what to make of it still but it concluded to him that... it wasn't bad. _

_Not bad at all, actually. _

_All these years of thinking what a kiss was like from someone __other__ than your mom, talking with Riku about who'd they considered kissing when they got older, wondering what it felt like... And then it finally happened. As excited as he was (as any boy would be), he was also a bit relieved. Relieved that it was Naminé._

_He'd done some serious thinking about girls over the past couple years and from once being faithful to the belief that all girls had cooties before age four, he grew to decide that some of them were okay. After having someone like Naminé for a friend, the fictional disease wasn't a part of the picture anymore. He even wondered down the road what the rest of his life would be like with her around all the time... _

_His conclusion - it'd be great. Fantastic even. Heck, even girls like Kairi and Selphie would make life fun. _

_And kissing? Well, what Naminé had done just then didn't leaving him scowling. A kiss was okay. And he was happy a friend, his __best__ friend, had given him his first. Finally coming to his senses, he wanted to thank Naminé right then, or at least give her a smile to let her know he wasn't mad or disgusted with her. _

_He blinked. But as he watched her get up, about to say something to her, he stopped. He saw her face._

_She didn't say a word. She hadn't even looked at him. _

_She was sad. _

_He had disappointed her. _

_Sora frowned. Did he really take that long to respond? Looking up at her from his spot, he watched as made her way to the tied-up boats and spoke softly to the others. _

_The tone of her voice... her head cast down... it made him feel like a loser. _

_Naminé continued to walk over the Kairi's boat. She never felt this embarassed. She was sure they were all staring at her and what was even more terrifying was thinking of when they'd spread this around to the other kids on the island. She could already hear it._

_'Did you hear? Naminé kissed Sora!' 'Yeah, and he didn't do anything!' 'I think he's embarassed.' 'He probably doesn't like her that way!' 'Awh, that's so sad.' _

_Letting a soft sigh escape her lips, she felt the back of her throat shudder. He couldn't have at least __tried__ to smile, to give back the reassurance she always gave him? Blinking rapidly, she knew a cry was coming soon. _

_What hurt more, was that Sora was her best friend. It should have meant more to him, the way it did to her._

_She scurried over faster to Kairi's boat. The quicker, the better._

_'Naminé, wait!' _

_Sora watched as she stopped and turned to stare at him slowly. Her eyes held nothing back to show the hurt that swam within. Gulping, he boldly stood up and faced her direction. Kairi, Tidus, and Riku watched curiously. Sora huffed softly, determination burning in his eyes._

_It didn't matter that they were all staring. All that mattered was hoping he could fix the little scratch he made in his friendship with Naminé. He didn't want another episode of her tears again. Especially, when it was him who caused them. __She watched as he made his way over to her. When he got there, he stopped in front of her, fisting his left hand softly. They stood facing each other at the same height. _

_Naminé blinked, waiting patiently as he scratched the back of his small head while looking down. _

_What was he thinking? What was he going to do?_

_Sora tried to think of something to say but when nothing special came, he threw all caution to the wind and decided this was the only better way. _

_Hurriedly, he planted a light kiss to her lips, then pulled away in a flash. _

_It was his second, and her first._

_He turned his head to the sky and clutched his right arm with his left hand. He could already hear Kairi sqeualing in the background and a shocking 'I told ya, Riku!' from Tidus. He was desperately trying to fight the blush that was growing. He hadn't meant to kiss her there, but in his panic, he wasn't really paying attention to his aim._

_As Naminé brought up a small hand to touch her lips, she watched as he looked around nervously. _

_It was all too fast to make sense, feeling, or emotion of. _

_Quickly, Sora ran to jump into in his own boat, his head bent down to face the water. When he turned his head back around to face everyone, he was grinning widely and waving his arms up and down._

_'Yeah, come guys! Let's go!!'_

_The intense atmospehere was dissapated instantly. Riku and Tidus cheered in agreement - even though they exchanged sly looks to each other. They were totally gonna corner Sora later. _

_As everyone began heading off to the island, Naminé turned over to stare Sora. When he caught her gaze, he grinned shyly. _

_'Y-you pick a song next, Nami!'_

_She smiled warmly, half-lidding her eyes._

_'Okay.' _

_How was she going to explain this one to daddy? _

_She decided it was better not to. _

--

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xxxOxxx

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"Raspberry tart, raspberry gelatin, raspberry smoothie, raspberry jam... uhm, what else is there?"

I smiled as I lifted my head up to the sky.

Was there even more? I guessed, just to make her happy, by putting things together.

"Uhh.... raspberry pie?"

She made an 'Mm' sound, satisfied with my answer. Awesome.

"Oh! And, there's raspberry-leaf tea."

I looked over to her curiously with my head tilted to the side.

"You can make tea like that?"

I watched her nod her head and turn to look at me with a smile, her golden hair whipped around her face.

It made me smile more.

"You can make tea with any type of leaves... making it taste good? Well, that's different."

I groaned and slumped my shoulders.

"I don't think I can trust berry jucie, berry tea, or whatever... after what happened before."

She must have understood where I was going, because she laughed and put her arm around me.

"Oh Sora..."

As I felt the warmth of her body, it made me fuzzy inside again.

After ditching gym like we always did, we berry-skipped down to the market and purchased a basket of ripe raspberries. I still speculate on how they always manage to get all types of ripe fruits... I don't think it's even the right season for raspberries.

But hey, if it puts a smile on Naminé's face, I'll believe anything.

The thought made a sudden rise to my neck and face. I was lucky Naminé had her head turned to the place before us, so she didn't see. I felt warmly uneasy... It was beginning to turn me into sounding like a lovesick fool.

I coughed up the raspberry I was swallowing. I'm starting to do that a lot nowdays.

_Lovesick?_ What was _that_ supposed to mean? I wasn't - I didn't - I couldn't-!

"You okay?"

Naminé's voice brought me back and though it helped to pull me from my disgruntled thoughts, it didn't help the growing fuzzy feeling I was beginning to develop again. My face flushed.

"Your face is flushing. You're not choking _again_, are you?"

Hitting my chest softly, I swallowed the remaining bit of raspberry in my throat and looked at her.

"W-why'd you say it like _that_?" I laughed when I was able to breathe normally again. I rolled my eyes.

"Thanks for the concern."

She rolled her eyes back at me.

"Sorry, it's just you're so clumsy. Especially when you eat.." I heard her giggle.

I smiled inwardly. _Like bells again._

"Haha."

Not even expecting it like I normally can, Naminé went to punch me lightly in the shoulder.

"Hey!"

She laughed and threw her back onto the floorboard to stare up at the sky. I looked down at her smiling then followed her gaze to the seagulls flying overhead. I hoped they wouldn't get too close... you know what they do when they fly.

I was about to voice the same thought to my best friend when I heard her sigh. I blinked and quickly looked back down to her. Her face was all scrunched up in the same cute way.

"What is it?"

"Nothing just... I wish I could sleep here, that's all."

I chuckled and copied her position, feeling what kind of relaxation she was getting at. We were sitting at another of our favourite places - the marina docks. Before us was the afternoon sun on our faces and the smell of saltwater drifting threw our noses. The wood was sturdy beneath us and ocean was sparkling in front. As the sky was blue-orange above us, we swang our barefeet back and forth over the edge, and our shoes were placed to the side. It was all really pretty.

I sighed too. It felt too good to be real.

"Yeah, I get what you mean."

She quickly changed the topic.

"So you're not gonna get locked out of your house again today right?"

I chuckled and nudged her lightly.

"Nah, not today... Why? Your dad misses me?"

She chuckled too. I knew she was rolling her eyes.

Whenever I forget my keys in my house, and I lock before realizing, I get to kick it at Naminé's until my mom comes home from work. I usually get a slap to my arm and a lecture about being an idiot, but it always ends with a _'So what d'you want tonight? Ice cream or brownies?' _

I laugh at the memory.

"What's so funny?"

I hear the smile in her voice. Since I haven't said anything for a while, she probably thinks I'm going insane.

With her though, I always tend to. I grin with my eyes closed.

Not bothering to answer her question, I pull myself up to sit again, and I reach for a couple of raspberries in the basket sitting on top her stomach. I munch on a few before I start another convo.

"Hm, they're not as great as strawberries. But a heck of a lot better than cranberries."

Naminé sat up again, eating a few too. When I heard her finish a swallow, she giggled.

"Mmhm, you're right."

I chuckle with her.

"But, it's still fun to do this, right?"

Hearing the hopeful tone in her voice caused me to look at her.

As she looked up at me with shining crytsal sapphires, I felt entranced. I gazed long and grinned softly down to her.

"Yeah, it is..."

Should I really open my mouth and continue what I want to say? Do I even what I _want_ to say?

She made everything so hard and yet, so easy at the same time. I don't think she knows yet how much of an effect she has on me.

Well, at least not the way a best friend should... it's something so much...

I almost leaned in to her face before I knew what was happening. And when I finally did, I pulled back quickly - not in an alarming way but quick enough for her not too notice. Her eyes suddenly widened.

Oh no, did she - what did I? - !

"Wow, you're fast, Sora! And so lucky too! That seagull almost hit you!"

Then I realized that she had backed away too. I quirked a brow and wondered why. Then I remembered what she said.

Looking down, my eyebrows furrowed together. That was disgusting.

I moved to sit on the opposite side of the dock's edge. Naminé laughed and followed in suit. As she settled down, she started to scoot closer to me. She giggled with a hand over her mouth.

"You gonna be okay? You looked pretty shocked."

I watched as she eyed my face again for the... well, I wasn't sure how many times she had looked me in the face that day. She also went to looked at my shorts and shirt, hoping I didn't get any crap on myself.

Both thoughts made blood rush to my cheeks. Man, why was I feeling so embarassed around her today?

"Uh, y-yeah. Just a little shocked, b-but I'll be okay."

I gave her my shyest grin as I scratched my left cheek with a finger. She gave a quick 'you-should-know-me-by-now' look but then replaced it with a warm smile. Her eyes were closed in amusement.

I'm not convinced she bought that lame attempt to lie. She chuckled lightly to prove my hypothesis.

"Heh, alright... Oh and Sora?"

I lifted an eyebrow slightly, I waited patiently while turning to face her. The sunlight behind her left delicate shadows over her features. As much I hate the heat of the sun beating down on in the mornings, I've grown to appreciate its warmth in this time. The coolness of the ocean makes it bearable.

"Hm?"

"...Thanks again."

I smiled and put an arm around her. I didn't have to speak to express my gesture.

Even though Naminé had finished inspecting me, we continued to sit close, hip-to-hip. The raspberry basket was still in her lap. As we turned our attention back to the ocean, the breeze picked up. We both went back to admiring the scene before us. I put an arm around her shoulders in a leisurely way.

...Today felt just like that day seven years ago - happy songs and laughter floated through my ears.

I was imagining the day all over again.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine... you make me happy when skies are grey..."

I joined in, singing softly.

"You'll never know dear, how much I love you..."  
"You'll never know dear, how much I love you..."

Suddenly I realized I had been singing out loud. I blushed feeling embarassed.

I would've stopped...

But Naminé put her head on my shoulder. When I looked down, I saw she had her eyes closed, smiling softly.

And as she sang the last verse quietly, I listened with my heart beating steadily faster.

I hadn't even realized that I'd subconciously pulled her closer.

"...please don't take my sunshine away."

------------

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_I'm a moth. She's my light._

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Hooray! Another chapter ish done. Haha, I really enjoyed making this one considering how many hours it took, how many spell checks I made, and how many times my mom kept trying to peek at what I was typing. Moms, huh? Lol, well I hope you liked it. And yup you got two new characters, Riku and Tidus. They're brief, but every other character is because this is a Sora/Naminé-centric story. Now with a break, I'll take any type of feedback. Who would you like to see come out as a new character? Who do you want to come back? What other berries have you got? You want drama or sweetness the whole way through? Touch-ups, suggestions, you name it. But flames I will just hoze down. I don't go around reading to trash a pairing and I absolutely love and support this one, so keep negative comments about Namora to yourselves kids.

To anyone who cares, the first rhyme that they sang as kids is an actual Japanese children's rhyme called '_Thousand Feet Up the Alps._' I've heard it in real life, and it's pretty cute :) The others? Well, a lot of people already know those. Oh, and sorry about any major spelling mistakes I miss. I wasn't using Word when I wrote this and Wordpad has no spell check system whatsoever so I tried hard reading it three times over. So, I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks so much and don't forget to drop a review!


	5. Black

Again, you guys are awesome!! And your reviews really help – real idea boosters. In contrast to my other Namora story with its darker, more mature content, I'm really grateful for the readers who've enjoyed this sweet, innocent taste as well. Heh, well here you go, what you've waited for. This chapter is a little wishy-washy because I worked on it like every three months, haha. Any who, here's Chapter five of,

_Silk on Sky: Berry Bliss_

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Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is the property of Square Enix and Tetsuyo Nomura. I do not own the characters …but I do own this story. I'll never really understand why fan-creations need this kind of opening clause. Meh, oh well.

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Now sit back, relax, and I hope you enjoy!

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_Being loved deeply by someone gives you strength;_

_Loving someone deeply gives you courage._

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I watched as Tidus jumped back a little to stand beside Sora. As they were talking, I noticed the big grin on Sora's face as he wiped a hand against his forehead. Then, Wakka went to stand behind them and gave Sora a pat on the back. From what I could see, after the congratulations were all in order, the three were beginning to discuss strategies for the next game.

I couldn't help but smile. Their eager and determined faces told me how bad they were into this and how much they wanted to win. They'd lost the first match, and weren't going to lose the second.

All of us were at the little island that sits little ways from the mainland. It's about 5 minutes by rowboat (Riku says twelve, if you swim it; he's risky but daring). We've been going here since we were old enough to swim and we usually save one day of the week to head over and play. As kids, we came almost everyday but with high school in the way and with us being lazy (Sora and I being the most), it's changed. But I'm never bored when we do head over.

So today, I, along with Sora, Kairi, Riku, Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, and our other friends all decided to be up for another game of Blitzball. We'd usually go in the school gym field because it's wider. But our coach is having the grass cut and the white lines re-outlined, so we headed for the island instead.

His arms were dripping with seawater and the sun bearing down on us made his sun-kissed skin glisten. I'm sure this type of the observation is stalker-ish or what Selphie calls it: fan-girl obsessed.

How creepy am I?

I put my head down in my hands and shook it back and forth slowly, even though I still had a little smile on my face.

When I raised my head again out of my palms, I gazed over at the boys again. Sora caught my eye in a flash before looking away. I couldn't help the little blush that rose to my cheeks.

It also didn't help that Kairi had been eyeing me at the same moment.

"Are you hot, Naminé? Your face is looking a bit red."

I was so startled by her outburst that I jumped a little in my seat on the wooden planks we were sitting on. I turned to face her with a smile.

"Don't worry, Kai. I'm alright."

She giggled. It must have been because of my nervous behaviour.

"You sure? We could always move out of the sun into the shade over there."

Kairi pointed her arm out and I followed it to a spot about ten steps away beneath a leafy tree surrounded by the pink bulbs of island orchids. The sand was overgrown with crabgrass and fixated with comfortable looking rocks that wedged together in smooth curvy shapes. I smiled distractedly as I gazed it over.

It looked good enough to draw.

Then I heard Kairi's voice again.

"What do you think?"

I blinked, coming back then I laughed lightly.

That was a little embarrassing. I pretended to cough to cover it up.

"Uhm, no it's alright. I like it here."

I turned my head back to stare at the guys, who were beginning to break up from the small circle they had formed.

What I didn't know was that if I had looked out of the corner of my eye, or even if I'd turned my head any seconds later, I would've noticed the sly look on my red-head friend's face.

That's Kairi; she's always quick to planning or thinking something up.

As I watched them get back into their positions, ready to start another game, Wakka came over to sit next to us. With a quick wave and greeting, he turned his attention back to the boys. I noticed he was rubbing his hands together in a circular motion.

I giggled quietly. Wakka always does that when he's nervous or excited. I'm guessing he feels both right now.

Then I turned my attention back to them as well. I could make out each boy on Sora's team and the guys on the other. My said best friend was positioned at the front of his team with the forwards. Like I told him, he was one of their best players, even a captain at some points, so they had him at the head.

With a wave of admiration I didn't even know I had, I loudly cheered out his name.

It was so random that nearly everyone looked over me. I grinned shyly.

"Sorry, guys."

Tense concentration that must have been building obviously broke with that one. Oops.

I was about to laugh lightly and brush it off when Sora perked his head up and with a warm smile, he threw me a thumbs up.

I grinned back and suddenly everyone was cheering. I heard Kairi shout out beside me and Wakka give a whooping victory cry. The guys in the game cheered and the ones watching like I was (most of them, girls by the way), were yelling their names, cries of support, and the occasional threats.

I had to laugh as I rolled my eyes. Silence is too much for everyone to handle – it _was_ only a game for fun, after all.

And just as the yelling got louder, and as everyone distractingly looked out to each other, and when Sora and Riku were about to run head-to-head for the middle of the played-out field, Tidus intercepted with a question.

"Does, uh… anyone have the ball?"

Riku and Sora skidded to stop, pushing up sand between their toes and feet. They looked around on the ground confusedly. I watched with a lifted eyebrow as their other team members did the same. Even all of us watching, we looked around on the field. We'd all thought it was already there.

Leave it to Tidus to add more insanity to this already messed up game. Looking up to the palm trees above, I shook my head in mock shame. Then, I heard Riku grunt loudly from where he stood across from Sora.

"Tidus, why didn't you say anything before? I was so ready to start th-"

And just like that, I was laughing loudly, stopping him mid-sentence. Even with my eyes closed, I could feel all the stares on me. When I opened them, I immediately caught Sora's lifted-eyebrow gaze my way. He had an amused smile on his face.

Kairi leaned over to eye me directly, a smirk on her features.

"What? You found it?"

Not even able to say 'yes', I nodded quickly before pointing a finger above me. I watched as she, along with everyone else, followed my direction leafy canopy over us. It was shorter than most and its trunk curved in many ways, making it the ideal place to climb, sit on, and hang things from.

The latter of which was why I was pointing.

Seeing Roxas' long pants hung upside down to tie around the highest limb with the Blitzball sitting snugly between, made Kairi remember the prank and laugh along with me. The rest joined in. I looked to see Riku shake his head with a smile on his face, and Sora chuckle and begin to make his way over to the palm tree where I sat against.

I giggled as he shook his head too, running a hand through his damp brown hair. My heart almost fluttered, but I kept the gaze amused.

"Aw, why d'you guys always mess with my cousin?"

I saw out of the corner of my eye, Kairi tilt her head sideways with a grin. She closed her eyes in mischief.

"Because it's fun, of course."

When Sora reached us, he crossed his arms playfully and tilted his head too – but in the way he did, when he was curious.

"Does he even know?"

A guy friend of ours on Riku's team called out from the field to join in the conversation.

"Is he even here?!"

I heard Wakka chuckle beside, so I turned to face him with a smile on my face. He had a response to this coming up.

"I doubt it."

I chuckled to his comment, then turned back to face Sora. He was already climbing up the palm tree to where pants were hanging. I spoke loudly with warm confidence.

"Well, good thing. I was here to remember… his pants have been up there for days."

I heard Kairi giggle and Wakka scoff. I turned my head to face Riku as he spoke before quickly looking back up to Sora.

"You put it up there?"

"Yup."

As I watched Sora carefully, I felt Wakka pat me on the back. I guess he was sort of congratulating me. His pats almost pushed me forward. I inwardly chuckled. I'd forgotten how big he was.

"But, I thought you didn't like climbing trees, ya?"

I shook my head, but I didn't let my gaze leave Sora's climbing figure. I was worried he'd fall, even though I knew that'd never happen when it came to him. As he finally reached the top of the curved rim, he looked down for a moment, whistled at its height from the ground (it's short, but still a bit high), then proceeded to edge his way over to the pants that were hung close to the leaves. I heard him grunt in effort as he spoke from the perch.

"Nah, Naminé likes anything."

Once he reached the pants, he quickly swung his body over and hung upside-down by his legs. I nearly let out a gasp. I was always worried when he did that, even as a kid. With ease, I watched from below as he reached between the pant legs and took balls in both hands. And with less difficulty than most would have at his gravity-defiant level, he threw the ball directly to Riku's face – who cursed loudly after the impact.

With a smirk, I heard Sora chuckle and I looked back up at him, just in time to see him twist in the hang and jump down beside me. As he wiped his hands on his shorts, he stared at me with a soft smile. I watched his eyes glaze under his half-lids.

"Naminé does the unthinkable. That's what I like about her. Right?"

I blushed lightly. Too bad the sun was directly over us – I had nothing to cover my face. But I was touched by the compliment, so I ignored it. With a shy grin, I looked up at him. I knew my eyes were twinkling – that's what he did to me…I loved it.

"Sure, Sora."

And with a wink and a grin, he was off.

"Alright guys, let's play."

I watched his back as he ran back to the middle of the field. At this point, I didn't even care if Kairi was watching me or not. I rested my head in my left hand, the smile never leaving my face.

_Naminé does the unthinkable…_

_That's what I like about her…_

-

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--)(--

--

-

'_Alright, Naminé. Bend your knees a little more and lift that arm higher…… uh, better... Uhm, here. Let me help a bit.'_

'_You sure Sora? I thought I was doing right.'_

'_Uh, __who's__ the better fighter?' There was a little chuckle. 'Trust me, kay?'_

'_You know I do.' A giggle followed afterwards._

_With the light shuffle of sandals over the soft sand, the shadow of an eleven-year-old boy, nearing his best friends', cascaded over the grains from the afternoon sun. His outline stood close to hers in comfortable aid. In the movement of the figures, he raised both his arms to gently grab hold of her left. Though her body was stiff in its defensive position, she willingly bent into different points as he altered her certain poses. _

_When he was done raising her left arm and twisting her right hand a little more counter clockwise, he dropped his hands and placed them on her shoulders. _

'_There you go!' _

'_Thanks Sora.'_

_Even though the shadows couldn't outline their smiling faces, the happiness and energy radiated off both black figures on the ground. In their silhouettes, his body was an inch shorter than hers, but he grasped her foundations as she stiffened her body again. The outline of her head, turned to stare down at the shadows. _

_In an amused demeanour, Naminé noticed how much shorter the wooden sword looked in the shadow than it really was. The sun must have been very high up, probably already a little past lunch._

_With that immediate thought, she relaxed her body again into a hunched position and with a big sigh, the girl wiped the sweat from her brow. The blonde hair over her forehead swished with the motion then allowed the sea's breeze to waft her heated skin, and cool her face._

_With a refreshing breath, she turned in Sora's hold and grinned at him. _

'_Let's eat!'_

_Sora blinked rapidly. Was she for real? She'd been begging him all morning for another sword fighting practice once they reached the island. And after finally getting here, and practicing for less than 10 minutes, she was already hungry and ready to give up? _

_Despite his grin, acknowledging his love for food (to which she gratefully noticed), he inwardly questioned Naminé's sudden food cravings. _

_The thought had not so much lasted a second in his mind before he blurted it out. _

'_Naminé, what're you hungry for?'_

_She blinked her crystallized-sapphire orbs at him before giggling into her hand. Sora was so extroverted. From the day she'd met him in kindergarten, things had never changed. The wooden sword in her hand was already forgotten at her side, swinging lazily back and forth in her hold._

_Sora took notice of this and shook his head disappointingly though he kept a small smile on his face. _

"_No Nami, come on! You gotta keep doing this until you get it." _

_Naminé stopped swinging the sword and tilted her head, pouting her face a little._

"_Aw, Sora! You know I'll get it eventually." Like the good friend he was, Sora shook a finger in her face and regarded her angel expression with a mischievous glare. _

"_No, you won't. You'll just put it off like you always do every time we do this." Naminé blinked as her face flushed with red from immediate embarrassment._

"_I do not!"_

"_Yeah, you do."_

"_Stop lying!"_

"_Nuh-uh! You always say I should teach you but when I try to, you give up so easily."_

"_No I don't!"_

"_Yes, you do! And ya know how many times we've started from the beginning? I'm sure you don't even want to learn this. That, or you don't have enough brain power to remember it!" He laughed lightly after saying this._

_Naminé mock-gasped and punched him lightly in the shoulder._

"_Stop talking bad about me, you blockhead!" She laughed afterwards. _

'_Hey!'_

_It was the start of those years when Naminé would begin picking on Sora. She felt so at ease and safe with him, that insults didn't even hurt. They were purely out of fun and both knew how special the other was to them. With minor, teasing fun, great friendship had been good to them over the years._

_Hearing his quick defence, Naminé chuckled and pushed him lightly in the shoulder before linking her arm with his. Sora squirmed a bit in the hold. He was still getting used to all this touchy feeling. _

_When he was younger, he never really bothered long enough to care. Now he suddenly did, and it all felt weird. _

'_I'm not a dimwit!'_

'_I didn't say dimwit. I said blockhead!' Naminé giggled. 'Get it straight!'_

_Despite the angry retort, Sora was smiling devilishly. He quickly pulled out of her grasp and ran ahead to the shack. Naminé rolled her eyes playfully then jogged ahead to meet him. _

_Once they reached the shack, Sora waited a moment to let Naminé reach. Once she did, they pressed their hands on the door then the both of them pushed the shack door open with a loud yell – they had been doing this little action since they were seven._

_Laughing lightly, Naminé ran in first and kneeled before her small backpack and began to unzip it. Still cheering, and awarding himself the praise he gave for his own strength, Sora plopped down next to his bag as well and pulled the Velcro apart to reach in. He spoke as they went to collecting their lunches._

'_Nami, I don't think __anyone__ knows someone better than themselves. Are you sure that's right?'_

_Despite his weird question, Naminé nodded her head, sending her blond tresses falling all over her face. With a puff of air, she blew them up and out of the way, before happily going back to her food retrieval. _

'_Mmm…maybe.' She giggled. That sounded like a stupid answer to give._

_Sora threw his eyes up to the ceiling to the wooden ceiling with a confused look on his face. He thought so too. _

'_Well, whatever. But I think I know what you're in the mood for.'_

_Naminé threw her head over her shoulder to stare him. Her front and face had been facing away from him and in his exclamation, she turned to hear him curiously. _

'_Oh yeah? What?'_

_Flicking a grin to her, he jumped up and raced over to her with the speed of a cat and pounced on her backpack. She gave out a happy shriek as he began digging threw her contents, looking for her container. When he did, he pulled it out and waved it in her face, a grin on his own._

'_Nothing! You don't want anything for lunch today, so I'm just gonna eat your lunch for ya!'_

_Blinking quickly, Naminé laughed lightly before swiping the container from his taunting hand and smacking playfully in the head._

'_Don't put words in my mouth! And __don't__ take my lunch!'_

_After rubbing his head on the spot where she nicked, he stared into her face hopefully. His eyes went all sparkly._

'_Can I at least have some?'_

_Naminé rolled her eyes but obliged anyways. When Sora asked like this, she couldn't help but give in. She never could. _

'_Sure.' _

_After quickly thanking Sora for getting her food out of her pack, Naminé got up and headed for the door. Before pushing it open, she turned back to best friend._

'_Come on Sora, I'm hungry.'_

_Her only response was his grumbling as he frantically went deeper into his bag._

'_I'll uh, be there in a sec. Just find a good spot 'til I get out there.'_

_Naminé rolled her eyes._

'_Okay, buddy.'_

_Putting a hand her hip with the familiar you-should-know-me-by-now look, she stared down at Sora for a couple more seconds. She remembered seeing his mom put his lunch in a bag in the front pocket. She shook her head._

_It would be another five minutes before he stopped searching the back one. With a light chuckle, she turned back around to head out the door. _

_The moment she pushed it away, the familiar smell of cool sea salt water and hot sand filled both their noses. It drowned out the shack's smell of wood and damp sand. The heat that was decreased in density in the shack rushed back in and washed over her. Naminé found herself heaving a deep breath. _

_Some moments later, a triumphant yell was heard as Sora had finally succeeded in finding the paper bag. Pulling it out quickly with his head still down, he began another conversation with Naminé as he went to patch the Velcro shut._

_'Hey, Nams! I found it, so you don't have to go out and look for a spot. I'm sure we can find a good one together, don' cha think?'_

_When silence followed his question, Sora whipped his head up and looked around the little wooden staircase. Realising __that she had already gone out, he called out to her._

_'Aw! You found a good spot already?! Hang on!'_

_Frantically, while keeping a tight clutch on his paper bag with one hand, Sora got up off the sand and after wiping his shorts with his free hand, he proceeded to head out the shack in search of his best friend._

'_I'm coming!'_

_Even though Sora was a boy who liked to walk to the beat of his own drum like most other boys, he always felt a little lonely when he left Naminé by herself, watching her move around as she did her own thing. He assumed it was because they were so close for so long that this sense of drifting would now have some affect on him. Like an arm still attached to the body but in a cast to prevent it from working with the other._

_Flicking his deep blue eyes around the beach, he couldn't spot her head of blonde hair anywhere. With a quiet huff, he took a step forward into the cool sand beneath him. The shack, being right up against an enormous fortification of rock, blocked out the sun's hot rays and shadowed his path in breezy comfortableness as he continued on in a straight line, while throwing his small head in all directions._

_Coming up to the small platforms that lead up the fishing post, Sora's mind went reeling. Where'd Naminé get to so fast? He'd only been looking in his bag for a couple of seconds… right? As he pondered on it, how long had he actually taken? And how long had Naminé been waiting? _

_She lectured him about being this type of distracted. Sometimes he made her wait 10 minutes for a response, when all he was thinking about at the time was food or playing outside. It made her knick him on the head, tell him how much it annoyed her, and how much it made him a weirdo._

_Coming to these thoughts, Sora grew a little tense. With a shallow breath and cautious eyes swirling around, he outwardly cringed as he began to walk slower on softer steps._

'_U-uh… I-I'm sorry, Naminé! I didn't mean to, uh…uhm…y…ya know, make you wait so long! If I did, I'm sorry! Just… don't hit me again, okay?'_

_When more silence followed as expected, Sora gulped the thick saliva building in the back of his mouth and held his paper bag in front of him as his only line of defence._

_Realising this action, he grumbled softly to himself._

'_Shoulda brought the sword with me..!'_

_Sora clambered over the final platform that led to the fishing post and stopped momentarily to get a better view of the area around him. If Naminé wasn't beyond the platform he was on, and standing on the wooden walkway like he though she might, his guesses at where she went would come to a standstill and he'd have to go looking for her on the other end of the island. _

_And just as he was leaning his head carefully beyond the wall of the bedrock to see…_

'_Gotcha!!'_

_With a loud shriek, Sora pulled away instantly but wasn't quick enough to get his butt, arm and shin knocked by Naminé's wooden sword, and finally his lunch lifted out of his hands by the tip of her sword. Shocked for words, he watched dumbfounded as she caught it up in the air with her left hand. And when he looked to her face, he blinked at her mischievous eyes and cheeky grin she adorned. She then laughed loudly._

_A sudden hot flush of pink rose to his cheeks as he was still at loss for words and by the time he regained his composure, Naminé was already over to his side, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and patting his back in a cheap friendly way. Her giggles still falling from her lips_

'_Awh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to freak you out __that__ much! I actually thought you would see it coming!'_

_Pulling away from the hug, suddenly feeling awkward by it, Sora pouted. _

'_Yeah well, I-I did! I was just pretending.'_

_Immediately hearing this response, Naminé mimicked Sora's pout and put her free hand on her hip, giving him a look of incredulous. _

'_Oh yeah?'_

_Sora nodded his head frantically in a desperate attempt to cover up his embarrassment._

'_Y-yeah! I was too busy worrying about where'd you'd run off to!'_

_With a little giggle once more, Naminé brought her defensive look down along with her hand on her hip and gave him a warm smile. She dropped her sword onto the ground beside her and reached down to grab her container._

'_Well, you found me! So, come on! Let's go find a great spot to eat! How about on top that big platform on the other side? Ooh, yeah! Let's go there! Then I can go right back to trying to kick your butt again!'_

_Grabbing his hand and pulling him along, Naminé dragged Sora with as much force as she could muster, all the while ignoring his cries of letting her grasp go. She laughed wholeheartedly and rushed down the platforms bringing him with her. _

_And while Sora kept up his protests, despite the awkwardness he was feeling with her hand in his, at the same time, it still felt right. _

-

--

--)(--

--

-

"Who got smoked?! You did, Riku!"

"Psh, yeah. Whatever, it's only a practice game."

"Yeah, a practice game where you got smoked!"

"Yeah, smoked!"

"Smoked yeah!"

Sora and Tidus along with three other boys from their team cheered loudly, clinking their bottles full of the popular fruit drinks they bought from the mainland. As I laughed loudly beside Sora, I felt the wind whip past me as Riku came up behind him and got him in a headlock.

Despite my inward concern, I giggled and stepped back, letting Riku do his damage. I guess I'm not as stealthy as I thought because Sora managed to incline his body in my retreating direction and yell with strained effort.

"H-hey! Where do you think you're going?! You're supposed to watch my back!"

Finally pulling up to stop beside the red-head, Kairi and I clinked our own bottles laughing as we watched Riku pull him away with the other guys for what looked like the makings of a wrestling match ready to break out.

I rolled my eyes. I couldn't believe all this was really happening in two hours.

The game went on for five matches – Sora's team winning three, and Riku's two. Even though I love both boys equally on playing terms, I can't help but admit that I bet my money on Sora almost all the time.

With that thought in my head, I chuckled softly to myself and look down into the transparent bottle where the light pink liquid swirled. I closed eyes after a minute of silent musing.

Why am I such a cheerleader when it comes to my best friend?

Despite all the weird thoughts running around in my head, I can't help but deny the fact that I _am_ his best friend. I should always be supportive of his actions… even if it means he has to crush someone else in the process. That's not my style, but I'd rather watch Sora having all the physical attributes.

Wait, _physical?_

A sudden heat rushed to my cheeks. Where did that come from? With a quick reflex, I threw my hand to my forehead just as Kairi turned to eye me curiously. I pretended to be winded in the energy of the laugh.

"You alright?"

When I tried to keep my eyes locked with hers, Sora's spiky brown hair came into view from behind her, and I found myself averting my eyes to the ground. This was all happening way too quickly, and I couldn't help the shaky feeling I was start to form. I felt like a leaf in a strong breeze. But I couldn't let Kairi figure that out, so with a pretend whistle and light laugh, I answered her question in the best exhausted way possible.

"Y-yeah… It's just…_whew_, hot out here. Don't you think?"

Something in Kairi's face, the way it scrunched and lifted an eyebrow to me, told me she wasn't buying into my diversion and it made me feel uncomfortable. As I thought about it, I had to wonder – what _was_ I diverting? And even more important, _why_ didn't I want her to figure out whatever it was?

With a few more seconds, she turned her head back slowly to the boys and shrugged.

"Whatever you say."

When my face was completely out of her view, I expelled a breath I didn't even know I was holding.

--

"Awh, come on guys! Don't tell me you're leaving now! We just got the party started!"

I watched as Sora's walked over to Tidus and slapped a hand on his bare shoulder, grinning as he spoke.

"Naw, we can't. Sorry, Tidus! Me and Nams haven't even _started_ that project for English yet so we've gotta pull an all-nighter tonight. Get started early though, right?"

When Sora finished speaking to him and the rest of the guys that had started to surround them, he began walking over to me with a warm smile on his face. I assumed that after talking about me with them, he was really starting to look forward to the sleepover.

And as I really thought about it, it made me cringe inside. All-nighters with Sora only meant two hours of actually _doing_ homework, and the rest of the nine spent bingeing on junk food, watching movies, and talking about nonsense until the sun came up.

I can't say I complain though – that's one of the many reasons that makes him Sora, and why I love him as my best friend. But in reality, I know there's something wrong with this picture here.

When he finally came back to stand beside me, I handed him his blue-striped button shirt and gave him a knowing look with my eyes. When he caught it, he knew exactly what I was thinking only moments ago. But nonetheless, he grinned and gave me wink.

"Thanks."

Thankfully, he turned back around to Tidus so quickly, he didn't notice the little flush that rose to my cheeks. I'm thankful _no one_ did.

Hearing a dramatic sigh, I brought my gaze back to Tidus as he crossed his arms and gave us both a small smirk.

"Alright, fine. Leave. But don't be calling me up tomorrow with questions about what happened while you were gone!"

I grinned softly as Sora's laugh erupted beside me. A warm energy seemed to pour into my stomach and I found myself shivering softly with comfort – yeah, he has that affect on me. But then again, he has that affect on everyone. When Tidus' laugh broke out too, it proved my point.

"You know I will, Tidus."

"Yeah, yeah… well, see ya tomorrow buddy." As he turned to go return to the rest of the party, he threw his head back and gave me a little mischievous smile.

"See ya later, Naminé! Oh, and good luck with _that_, all night!"

I laughed as he indicated with a nudge of his head in Sora's direction. After Sora took a moment slower to process what he meant, he jumped on the spot and throw his fist at the tan boy.

"Hey!!"

I rolled my eyes and chuckled, and then with a light tug on Sora's arm, I pulled him in the direction of the rowboats.

"Come on, let's get going!"

Sora chuckled and went to walk beside me. He started a conversation as he began putting on his shirt.

"Man, you notice how fast it gets cold here on the island? I swear, we're going to have to bring long-sleeves more often… Aw, I can't believe that one shot we made! That was incredible saving by Marcus! Coach should really think of putting him on offence. Hey! You think I could talk to him about it since I'm the captain right now? I don't want to come off as pushy but I think it might be really cool if we go…."

Sora's words were going into my head, but I wasn't really paying attention as the seconds ticked by. Despite his cool character and calm leisurely lifestyle, when Sora got excited about anything, he could go on like an energized girl.

I've told him that too, and I would've told him that at the moment again. But I was too busy looking behind us as we retreated from the warm dying glow of the island's sunset party.

It was extremely picturesque, sketch-worthy if I'd had the time to draw it. Everyone who had come out in the afternoon still lounged about without us in their long-sleeves and dry t-shirts (just like Sora suggested), basking in the comfortableness of nothing and talking the evening away like any teenager. Sora and I would have desperately wanted to say, but unlike everyone else who finished their English assignments early, they didn't have Sora as a partner.

As I thought about everyone else, I realised I hadn't said goodbye to Kairi when we took leave. But when we saw each other tomorrow, she wouldn't mind. Kairi was very 'half glass-full' about everything – she never took anything to heart if she thought it wasn't intentional.

"…and that's why I told him I'd never put seaweed down my shorts. Heh, pretty weird eh?"

Blinking rapidly, I chuckled and rolled my eyes. There was nothing I could say to that response, even if I _had_ heard everything he said up to this point. So instead I just elbowed him in the gut and proceeded to kneel down on the ledge of the dock. As I heard him make groan slightly from my little assault, I began to untie our boat for the ride home.

"Uhh…let's just get to the mainland before I hear what _else_ you're planning to put inside your pants."

"B-but I said I _wouldn't_ put it down my–!"

I laughed, getting him off the subject.

"Come on, Sora!"

--

"So, we've got about a half hour of sunlight left. Where's the fastest place we can go to grab a couple of blackberries?"

Sora and I got to the mainland when we completely read each other's mind and remembered that we still had yet to try another type of berry for nearly the whole day and with the sun retreating, we had to be back at my house before my parents got worried.

Normally when we stay out late, I call them or tell them ahead of time so they don't worry – Sora does the same. But we figured we'd have been back way before the sunlight gave out and not waiting until tomorrow to try another berry with the whole night to look forward to, we both mentally scratched our heads and began thinking.

"I don't know… the market's probably already out of fresh fruit by now…"

From the corner of my eye, I watched Sora nod his head, his brown spikes bouncing around as we walked. It made me smile despite our current stress.

All around us, the warm and quiet buzz of the town lulling down for the night was drifting. Sora and I walked side by side, my arm linked with his in a modest friendly gesture. I could hear our shoes hit the concrete pavement in unison and I felt the sway in my hair be caressed by the cool breeze of the upcoming evening that flew through the streets. Orange and yellow lights flourished before my eyes, and as I was thinking of blackberries, I found myself looking around to all the distracting everyday antics of the townspeople. There was talking, laughing, the occasional yell and holler to another floating all about, and while I could hear Sora's reply, I was more preoccupied with the pleasant fuzz in my heart from watching the other people unlike him. I was certain no one else in the world would know how safe and wholesome it is to be part of community such as this.

"And it's too far and too late now to walk over to Baltic to their late-hour store. The parents would freak."

Hearing Sora finish, I blinked and pulled out of my daze. I instinctively felt myself tighten my arm with his and press my shoulder into him, closing the little gap in our walk. But to my relief, strange enough, Sora didn't react in any negative way. With a light chuckle, I heard him continue talking.

"You think we're actually going to get any work done tonight?"

I rolled my eyes and I giggled. Then leaning my head out to give him the old 'You-should-know-me-by-now' look, I smirked.

"What do _you_ think?"

To my amusement, Sora laughed, bringing another kind of warmth to my heart that made it flutter.

"That's my girl!"

I watched him admirably as he smiled handsomely down to my face. In the glow of the street around us, it was contoured so wonderfully with shadow that it almost made it hard not to stare at him long enough.

But I'd never tell _that_ to his face.

I laughed lightly and picked up our pace a little. Sora effortlessly caught up and we were walking in unison again.

"Come on, Sora… you made me put it off for so long! Now we have to suffer all night. The least you could do now is find me some blackberries to get over this misery."

Sora chuckled again.

"Alright, Naminé."

I inwardly sighed. Sora was so painfully easy-going that I was sure spending the rest of my life with him would mean an early death.

_Wait…what?_ …_Spend the rest of…?_

The train of thought I was currently riding on wouldn't any further than to the station I had just arrived in. As I thought about it more, I realised my rational made sense.

Sora and I have been friends since kindergarten. _Close_ friends. _Best friends_. We've slept in the same room for years up until today. We share secrets… buildings, _skyscrapers_ of memories. Have our own jokes, nicknames, codes… the whole friendship works!

Heh, if I couldn't see him in my life later on in years, I'd have to wonder who I was. Being with Sora for all these years is like breathing air. He's always there, and I find myself feeling him everywhere even when he isn't.

_When he isn't…_

Despite the warm feeling I was still absorbing from our evening walk, I felt my eyebrows crease together.

Being with Sora… spending the rest of my life with him… and yet, the words had more emphasis on a different meaning.

And I wasn't stupid enough to understand what it meant.

Looking up to his face again, I watched as my best friend still deep in thought with a concentrated but soft look in his eyes. In deep thought of my own, I bit my lower lip softly.

Feeling like the little girl I was when I was four, hiding beneath his warm bed sheets as I cried with him sleeping on the floor beside me, my heart wretched.

I knew that no matter what, I would never lose Sora in the sense of a best friend. He'd be there for me forever, to my own comfort. But…

…would I be able to handle it in the different way when another opportunity… another girl… would arrive, and he would be there for her… in ways I would never experience with him?

At fifteen, I know it's wrong to think so far ahead and so intimately about someone this way. But in all fairness, he's my best friend.

I've known Sora to have multiple crushes on other girls throughout the years, just like I have. It's natural. And in the end, we're still the last two tied together so tightly.

Still… I…

"Naminé? Naminé, you okay? What's wrong?"

When I blink and come back to reality, I find Sora's face directly in front my own and he's holding my cheek in a gentle caress, shaking my head slightly. A warmth from where his fingers are brushing in soft contact is rising quickly and I widen my eyes in a very small interval so he doesn't notice my initial fluster. Pretending to be a little dazed, more than embarrassed, I look around slowly.

Sora's pulled me to the side of the street, near an open alleyway where lights from open homes and stores have their evening lights turned on already. I release my hold on his arm and smile.

"Nothing, nothing. Can't I just have a moment to myself?"

I close my eyes and grin in a tease. Unbeknownst, I miss Sora's knowing smile and mischievous glint in his eyes. When I do, something strange or wonderful always follows.

"Of course you can."

Hearing his slightly suggestive reply, I open my sapphire blue irises and watch him mildly curious. I don't say anything, but I still feel his left hand pleasantly holding my face. He smiles through half-lid eyes.

"That's what makes you my Naminé."

Hearing these words, I feel a light blush rising and with a small grin. I tilt into his lingering palm and hold it with my right hand. I'm unaware of the two middle-aged women who walk past us into the alleyway, who quietly cooed as they watched and heard us with warm eyes.

"_Yours?_"

With a firm nod, Sora grins back softly and starts rubbing my cheek with his thumb. I'm not sure if he knows he's doing it, but I could care less if he does. All that strikes me is the shiver it's causing to run up my spine.

"Yup!"

The assertiveness and beguine I hear in his voice, causes me to laugh warmly. As I drop my hand back down, Sora follows in suit with his own. There's a little disappointment in my stomach but I push it down and any more thoughts that are distracting me from the real problem. With my hands on my hips I smirk up at him.

"Alright then master, did you find a place for us to get my blackberries?"

Sora laughed to my retort and scratched his nose with a finger and looked down sheepishly.

"I didn't mean it when I said it like that!"

I giggled lightly and rolled my eyes.

"Then what did you mean by _I'm yours?_" It was just to tease and see where he would go.

But in a nonchalant way, he coughed lightly and stepped out of my path. Then swinging his left arm over my shoulder, he pulled me with him into the alleyway and we began waling again. I turned my head to stare at him again with a raised eyebrow.

Way to cover the subject, Sora. Heh.

"While you were busy having a moment, I came with the _perfect_ place to get some blackberries!"

I chuckled.

"Oh yeah, where?"

With a sleek grin, Sora looked down to my face and eyed me slyly.

"But you're paying."

I rolled my eyes again and pouted.

"Where exactly are we going?"

Sora's grin widened and with a sharp turn into another back alley street that I hadn't noticed we were walking towards, he pointed his index finger to a little modest structure of a restaurant coming up towards us.

"I figured… hey, I'm hungry for cake too, so why not buy both? And then the immediate thought of cheesecake came to mind!" With a smile, I heard him laugh. "Don't worry. Their dessert's really good. Dad and I took mom there for her birthday last year."

My smile proceeded to grow wider as we approached the restaurant's windows and I viewed the activities on the inside.

There were a good amount of chairs and tables, probably about 40 sets, and many of them were still occupied by people, couples, families, old men and women getting together for a night out. Their voices, their laughter, carried out to me through the brightly lit windows. The waitresses and bartenders moving about looked cheerful and upbeat, seemingly happy that the work day was ending soon. Sora's voice picked up again.

"I can't believe I forgot about this place, since then… but then again, I haven't been down here a lot. Otherwise I would've taken you here sooner to try it out!" With a another chuckle, he looked to me, and raised an eyebrow.

"So, what do you think?"

With a bright smile, I patted the arm over my shoulder and nodded vigorously, already excited.

"It's perfect."

Sora closed his eyes, his smile still on his face.

"Don't worry, they always add the fresh berries to the flavours you ask for, so we'll still be getting the blackberries as long you remember to order it!"

I laughed lightly. "No, I won't. I might get a little distracted though… seeing as there's probably gonna be so many other choices!"

At this Sora perked up. "Oh, there is! They've got all the other berry flavours, and there are other fruits too that I can remember. Mango's one of them for sure, and chocolate! Even though, that's not a fruit, heh but I think there's also angelfood, and different syrups you can…"

But Sora's voice only got that far into my head. I was too busy loving this moment of warmth and happiness with him, and as we past two middle-aged women walking ahead of us, I couldn't help but blush and smile warmly as they watched us serenely and suspiciously interested.

I rolled my eyes.

Must be because of Sora. He talks way too much.

------------

-----

_We were given: _

_Two hands to hold. Two legs to walk. _

_Two eyes to see. Two ears to listen. _

_But why only one heart? _

_Because the other was given to someone else. For us to find. _

-----

------------

Sorry, it was late!  
Musical inspiration to help set the mood for this chapter comes from the soundtrack of _The Wedding Planner_. If you don't like this movie, you haven't lived! Haha, that's all for now. Hope it wasn't too long. Don't forget to give me more berries to work with – thanks to al those who gave me some already :) They're going to be put in the story. Sora and Naminé… aren't they so sweet?


End file.
